Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him
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Thank you, Bret Witter. Not only did you put up with me, but you’ve significantly contributed to the ongoing healing process. And, Tuesday’s happy to have gained a friend forever.
To Elisabeth Dyssegaard, Ellen Archer, Kristin Kiser, Katherine Tasheff, Marie Coolman, Molly Rosenbaum, and all of the magnificent people at Hyperion—you are simply the best.
Tuesday. What would I do without my Tuesday? Thank you, you “good ole soul.”
My heartfelt thanks go out to all of you below to whom I am indebted. Through the years, you’ve offered friendship, mentorship, support, and love.
Plinio Homero Montalván, Ruth Montalván, Sergio Miranda Ortiz, Teresa Miranda, George Plinio Montalván, Patricia Montalván, J. Plinio Montalván, Gina Montalván, Cristina Rieppi, Pablo Rieppi, Isabel Cabán, Angel Cabán, Carlos Cabán, Carmen Cabán, Esq., Maggie Dooley, Kevin Dooley, Alex Dooley, David Dooley, David Cabán, Ileana Cabán, Paul Vizcarrondo, Esq., Nina Vizcarrondo, Kevin Krufky, Esq., Tim Westhusing, Keith Westhusing, Nadia McCaffrey, Emily Pearcy, Dr. Goli Motarassed, M.D., Briah Carey, Myrtle Vacirca-Quinn, Esq., Christina Curry, Marvin Wassermann, Michael Schweinsberg, Councilwoman Sara González, Assemblyman Félix Ortiz, Lu Picard, Dale Picard, Judy Knispel, Barbara Jenkel, Paul Jenkel, Leslie Granda-Hill, Tammy Snowden, Michelle Mullany, Jeffrey Bodley, Esq., Michele Bernstein-Goldsmith, Barry S. Goldsmith, Olga Trevizo, Angie Trevizo, Donna Kelly Thibedeau-Eddy, Tyler Boudreau, Amme Poe-Gilbert, Melody Moezzi, Esq., Matthew Lenard, Paul Rieckhoff, Ali Fawzi, Hamza Thakir, Cindy Rodríguez, Domenica Iacovone, Teresa Davis, Bronwen Pence, Amy Pence, Ted Gavin, Amy Gavin, Michael Elkin, Amy Kielman, Jarka Kristinova, Chris Lombardi, Rachel Rawlings, Joe Bello, Katie Johnson, James Bloomer III, Gary Brozek & Huck, T. J. Buonomo, Alicia Castañeda, Rolando Castañeda, Aaron Glantz, Patricia Greenwald, Mario Ruiz, Cynthia Labelle, David Lackowitz, Esq., Robert Wolf, Esq., Katie McMaster, Jeri Miller, Kristabelle Munson, Prof. Phillip Napoli, PhD, Rachel Natelson, Esq., Tony Ntellas, Marianne Perez, Joe Piazza, Ned Powell, Diane Powell, Tricia Powell, Prof. Edward Queen, PhD, Esq., David Ramsay, Gabriel Razoky, Shannon Rickey, Fred Schieck, Ben Selkow, Katharine Bailey, Dee Soder, PhD, Jose Vasquez, Mike Chung, Hwang Chung, Todd Wiseman, Jr., Milos Silber, Keely Zahn, Karin Zeitvogel, Pfc. (Ret.) Phil Bauer & Reese, Pfc. Cole Vickery & Cylis, Pfc. (Ret.) David Page, Pfc. Joseph Knott, Pfc. Robert Murray, Pfc. Wyatt Eisenhauer, Senior Airman (Ret.) Kimberly Specht & Toby, Spc. Ricky Rockholt, Spc. Hoby Bradfield, Spc. Justin Pollard, Spc. (Ret.) Tyson Carter, Spc. (Ret.) Andrew Hanson & Jackie, Sgt. (Ret.) Mary Dague & Remy, Sgt. (Ret.) Eric Pearcy, Staff Sgt. (Ret.) Rick Boone & Raeburn, Staff Sgt. (Ret.) John Davis, Sgt. 1st Class (Ret.) Kevin Epps, Sgt. 1st Class Brian Potter, 1st Sgt. (Ret.) Scott Annese, 1st Sgt. Zack Lever, Command Sgt. Maj. John Caldwell, Command Sgt. Maj. Jon Hunt, Command Sgt. Maj. (Ret.) William Burns, 1st Lieutenant Joseph D. Demoors, Capt. (Ret.) Mark Brogan, Capt. Ernie Ambrose, Capt. Adam Tiffen, Esq., Capt. Brian Schwab, Capt. (Ret.) Chris Hadsall, Capt. Joe Merrill, Capt. John Fuchko, Capt. Timothy Meier, PhD (SJ), Maj. Fred Pasquale, Maj. Denis Lortie, Maj. Jay Baker, M.D., Maj. Doug LaBouff, Maj. Eric Gardner, Maj. Michael Martinez, Maj. Scott Pence, Maj. Bill Bainbridge, Esq., Maj. (Ret.) Donald Vandergriff, Lt. Col. Matthew Canfield, Lt. Col. Brian Steed, Lt. Col. David Causey, Lt. Col. Don Moore, Lt. Col. Michael Shinners, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Michael Sternfeld, Lt. Col. Christopher Kennedy, Lt. Col. James Gallivan, Col. Joel Armstrong, Col. Christopher Gibson, PhD, Col. Christopher M. Hickey, Col. Paul Yingling, Col. Gregory Reilly, Col. (Ret.) Mary Belmont, PhD, Col. Ted Westhusing, PhD, Brig. Gen. H. R. McMaster, Maj. General Khorsheed Saleem al-Dosekey, Mayor Najim Abid al-Jibouri, Sec. Eugene Dewey, Sen. Al Franken, Franni Franken, Prof. David Segal, PhD, Prof. Mady Segal, PhD, Prof. Winthrop Adkins, PhD, Dean Nicholas Lemann, Dean Sree Sreenivasan, Dean Melanie Huff, Dean Laura Muha, Dean Tom Harford, PhD, Prof. John Martin, Prof. Shawn McIntosh, Prof. Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, Prof. Beth Whitehouse, Prof. Elena Cabral, Prof. Rob Bennett, Prof. Mirta Ojito, Prof. John Smock, Prof. Tony Judt, PhD.
About the Author
LUIS CARLOS MONTALVÁN is a seventeen-year veteran and former captain in the U.S. Army, where he earned the Combat Action Badge, two Bronze Stars, and the Purple Heart. Montalván’s writing has been published by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The International Herald Tribune (among others), and NPR, CBS, CNN, BBC, C-SPAN, National Geographic, and Democracy Now! have all featured his amazing personal tale. Montalván earned a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University, where he is currently completing another master’s in strategic communications.
BRET WITTER has collaborated on many acclaimed books, including the #1 New York Times bestseller Dewey and Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky.
www.luiscarlosmontalvan.com
Photo Section
During “Operation Brush Back” in South Baghdad, I stop to take a photo with some precious Iraqi children. Despite coping with physical and psychological issues, my return to Iraq in April 2005 was spotted with moments of beauty like this one.
Resting in my HMMWV, completely fatigued, after “Operation Squeeze Play” in South Baghdad. Culminating in June 2005, Squeeze Play was the largest Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces combined military operation conducted since the initial invasion in 2003.
White Team (my platoon) shortly after reaching Al-Waleed, a port of entry on the Syrian-Iraqi border, in October 2003. We established a forward operating base (FOB) and then began area reconnaissance, counter-smuggling, customs, security, and reconstruction operations.
A Sunni gentleman pours me a glass of chai. It was humbling to be asked to spend a few moments with this family, despite having just searched their home.
(Photo by Craig Walker—Denver Post)
Tuesday as a puppy.
Army Sgt. Mary Dague receives a kiss from her new service dog, Remy.
Lu Picard, Founder and Director of ECAD, talks with Army Staff Sgt. (Ret.) Rick Boone about how to brush his service dog Raeburn’s teeth.
Four wounded Army veterans of Iraq—Ricky (left), me, Mary, and Andrew—and their newly partnered service dogs proudly capture a moment near the end of ECAD’s “Project HEAL” in November 2008.
Giving thanks to Puppies Behind Bars inmate dog trainers in November 2008. Tuesday is visible resting at my feet.
(Photo courtesy of Timothy Lamorte)
Tuesday sneaks a kiss at a charity event to help provide wounded veterans with service dogs. While anniversaries of 9-11, like this one in 2010, conjure a lot of painful memories, Tuesday and I feel compelled to leave home to help other veterans in need.
Tuesday and I make our way to a graduation ceremony at Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities (ECAD). A year later, in November 2009, we proudly attended the second graduating class of ECAD’s Project HEAL.
(Photo courtesy of Leslie Granda-Hill)
Senator Al Franken plays with Tuesday at a party to celebrate his election to Congress, while I look on. The August 3, 2009, celebration was made even more festive by the Senate’s passage of Franken’s first piece of legislation, the Service Dogs for Veterans Act (SDVA), the day before.
Tuesday and I carefully descend the steps to Sunset Park in Brooklyn in early 2009.
(Photo courtesy of Leslie Granda-Hill)
Tuesday and I pose in our caps and gowns on May 18, 2010, the day we graduated from Columbia University’s School of Journalism.
Tuesday and I walk down a block in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, in March 2009.
(Photo courtesy of Leslie Granda-Hill)
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 Luis Carlos Montalván
Except where noted, all photos are from the collection of the author.
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a dat
abase or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information address Hyperion, 114 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011.
The Library of Congress has catalogued the original print edition of this book as follows:
Montalván, Luis Carlos.
Until Tuesday : a wounded warrior and the golden retriever who saved him/Luis
Carlos Montalván.—1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-4013-2429-2 (hardback)
1. Service dogs-United States. 2. Human-animal relationships. 3. Montalván, Luis Carlos. 4. Men with disabilities—United States—Biography.
I. Witter, Bret. II. Title.
HV1569.6.M56 2011
362.4092—dc22
[B]
2010051147
eBook Edition ISBN: 978-1-4013-0376-1
Hyperion books are available for special promotions and premiums. For details contact the HarperCollins Special Markets Department in the New York office at 212-207-7528, fax 212-207-7222, or email spsales@harpercollins.com.
Cover design by Phil Rose
Cover photograph by Donna Svennivik
First eBook Edition
Original hardcover edition printed in the United States of America.
www.HyperionBooks.com
* 1st Lt. Wilfred Edward Salter Owen, a British soldier, was one of the leading poets of World War I. Owen was injured in March 1917 when he “was blown high into the air by a trench mortar, landing in the remains of a fellow officer.” Shortly thereafter, he became trapped for days in an old German dugout. After these two events, Owen was diagnosed with “shell shock” and sent to Scotland for treatment. After returning to the front, Owen led units to storm a number of enemy strong points near the French village of Joncourt. On November 4, 1918, just seven days before the Armistice, he was caught in a German machine-gun attack and killed. For his courage and leadership he was awarded Britain’s Military Cross.
* Kurt Vonnegut, one of the most influential American novelists of the twentieth century, was an infantryman with the 423rd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division, during World War II. He was wounded and, on December 19, 1944, he was captured during the Battle of the Bulge. As a prisoner, he witnessed the firebombing of Dresden. In 1984, he attempted suicide.
* During World War I, Hemingway volunteered to be an ambulance driver in Italy. On July 8, 1918, while stationed at Fossalta di Piave, he was seriously wounded by mortar fire, sustaining shrapnel wounds to both legs. Despite his wounds, Hemingway carried an Italian soldier to safety, for which he received the Italian Silver Medal of Military Valor. Afterward, Hemingway spent five days at a field hospital before being transferred to a hospital in Milan for six months. In 1947, he was awarded a Bronze Star for his bravery during World War II. He was recognized for his valor in having been “under fire in combat areas in order to obtain an accurate picture of conditions,” with the commendation that “through his talent of expression, Mr. Hemingway enabled readers to obtain a vivid picture of the difficulties and triumphs of the front-line soldier and his organization in combat.” Ernest Hemingway was awarded the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea. On July 2, 1961, he committed suicide.
* Leo Tolstoy, the Russian author of the masterpieces War and Peace and Anna Karenina, served in an artillery regiment during the Crimean War. At the war’s onset, 2nd Lt. Tolstoy was transferred to the front where his “experiences in battle helped stir his subsequent pacifism and gave him material for realistic depiction of war’s horrors” in his later literary work.
* The name was recently changed to Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities (ECAD).
* FOB Byers was named after Capt. Joshua Byers, a twenty-nine-year-old cavalry officer and the former commander of F Troop, Second Squadron, Third Armored Cavalry Regiment. Capt. Byers was killed by an IED on July 23, 2003, when his convoy was ambushed near the town of Ramadi. While awaiting deployment to Iraq, I had the sacred honor of escorting the body of Capt. Byers from Dover Air Force Base to his home in South Carolina, where he now rests. It was a solemn journey, and one I shall never forget. Capt. Byers was beloved by many.