Write-up by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb

As if the chance to see top notch professional golfers compete in person is not enough of an incentive to attend the upcoming Travelers Championship, here’s another.

Travelers Championship has teamed up with K9s For Warriors and presenter Liberty Bank to help a Connecticut veteran struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. As part of a new initiative for Military Appreciation at the Travelers Championship, a “deserving veteran” will receive a shelter rescue dog which will be trained to become a service canine.

The Travelers Championship is slated to get underway on June 16 and run through June 22 at the TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, CT.

“We are honored to continue to support our military through programs such as K9s For Warriors. We can’t thank these brave men and women enough for their brave service,” Nathan Grube, Travelers Championship Tournament Director, was quoted as saying in a press release.

Liberty Bank is seeking suggestions from fans to name the canine, go to travelerschampionship.com/k9s/ to participate. The name is scheduled to be announced on Saturday, June 21 in the Patriots’ Outpost at the tournament.

Chandler J. Howard, Liberty Bank President & CEO is a Vietnam veteran and is on the Travelers Championship board. “As a Vietnam veteran, I’m delighted to know that we’re helping make reentry into civilian life easier for a Connecticut veteran,” Howard was quoted as saying.

K9s For Warriors is a non-profit group headed by Shari Duval of Jacksonville, Florida. Calling it an “invisible” disorder on the K9s For Warriors website, Duval explains she and her husband Bob started the program when seeing firsthand the effects of PTSD after their son returned from two tours in Iraq. He was a “Veteran K9 police officer” contracted as a bomb dog handler with the Department of Army.

According to Duval, service canines are a “medically proven” aid to military troops and veterans in recovery from PTSD – reportedly, 1 in 5 veterans suffers from PTSD.

The veterans themselves learn from “skilled certified canine handlers” to train their own service canines, at a three-week academy in Jacksonville, Fla.

“When a warrior arrives at our Academy they arrive on two legs and they leave on six, with their canine partner,” stated Duval.

K9s For Warriors will also host an inaugural “Warrior’s Gala for Dog & Country” on June 28, 2014 at the Omni Stoneham Hotel in Washington      D. C. Proceeds will go to help carry on the work of the program.