Plainfield veteran Michael Tellerino dedicated to veterans with PTSD

Army veteran Michael Tellerino of Plainfield set out to help with post-traumatic stress disorder and wound up blessing himself, too.

Tellerino founded the nonprofit K9s for Veterans in 2018 “to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder transition back to civilian life once their military service has ended with the help of trained service dogs,” according to the K9s for Veterans website.

Most of our veterans are too proud to ask for help. But I tell them, ‘The first step in getting better is asking for help. If you don’t ask for help, you’ll never get better.’ ”

—  Michael Tellerino of Plainfield, founder of K9s for Veterans and the Forgotten Warrior Memorial in Channahon

In February, K9s for Veterans opened its second training center, the Gina & Jim Glasgow Training Campus, located at 1 Doris Ave. in Joliet.

[ K9s for Veterans opens its second service dog training location in Joliet ]

K9s for Veterans also recently opened an outlet store in Bolingbrook.

“We’ve just been blessed,” Tellerino said. “Nobody is this lucky. The gods have been watching over us. We’ve come such a long way and helped so many veterans. It’s just an amazing gift we’ve been blessed with.”

Tellerino also founded the Forgotten Warrior Memorial in Channahon as a nonprofit, too. Tellerino said the Forgotten Warrior Memorial is a way to honor veterans who died as a direct result of their PTSD.

He initially began it under the K9s for Veterans umbrella, he said, but starting a separate nonprofit for the memorial made it easier to segment the donations.

Tellerino said he recently added pavers around the memorial.

“We can’t do anything for the veteran that took their life,” Tellerino said. “But at least we can do something to show the families that their son or daughter isn’t forgotten, that someone recognizes their loss.”

Tellerino had the idea for K9s for Veterans while volunteering for a dog rescue group in Illinois, which provided free food and vaccines for families that were struggling financially.

That’s how Tellerino met a veteran with PTSD. The veteran had a service dog and said more were needed, Tellerino said.

Tellerino has since learned that service dogs are “amazing gifts” to veterans with PTSD.

“I didn’t even know I needed one as well,” Tellerino said. “After I saw what our dogs can do for these veterans, I thought, “Maybe I need to try this.’ ”

Tellerino said he received his first service dog, a German shepherd named Greta, five years ago. After 18 months, she was diagnosed with kidney cancer.

One day Greta “wasn’t acting right,” so Tellerino took her to the veterinarian. But “nothing could be done for her,” he said.

“I didn’t want another dog right away,” he said. “I was so heartbroken over Greta.”

Tellerino said he met his current shepherd, Samantha, at the training center. A man was moving in with his girlfriend, couldn’t keep the 105-pound dog and wanted a veteran to have her, Tellerino said.

When Samantha saw him, she dashed around 20 people in the training room, jumped onto Tellerino’s lap, put both paws on his shoulders and started kissing him, Tellerino said.

“I couldn’t imagine being without Samantha now,” Tellerino said. “She is my everything.”

Remembering veterans who died by suicide

On Sept. 17, Tellerino hosted a one-hour ceremony at the Forgotten Warrior Memorial at Channahon State Park. He typically holds two each year, he said.

[ Channahon memorial for ‘forgotten warriors’ honoring those lost to PTSD ]

“The families were just overwhelmed. ... They were just in awe that somebody did this for them,” Tellerino said. “And at the end of the ceremony, we had dual taps; it was amazing.”

Moreover, these same veterans should be honored as American heroes, just like those veterans who are wounded while in service or killed during duty, Tellerino said.

Because the veteran with PTSD who dies by suicide also died in service to their country, he said.

Tellerino said he served stateside in the Army and “got out” in 1971. He said when he stepped off the plane at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, people were screaming, “You’re a disgrace” and “Burn that uniform!”

“I stood there, and I was just in total disbelief,” Tellerino said. “I didn’t do anything other than serve my country. But that’s the way our veterans were treated coming home from Vietnam. That’s just a fact.

“I think we really learned a lesson from the way we treated our Vietnam veterans. Today, there are so many great organizations out there doing amazing things for our veterans. God bless them.”

He encourages veterans with PTSD to reach out for help.

“Most of our veterans are too proud to ask for help,” Tellerino said. “But I tell them, ‘The first step in getting better is asking for help. If you don’t ask for help, you’ll never get better. It’s never going to be any better for you.’

“And that’s the truth. Our veterans come into this program as a shell of a person. Two or three months later, they’re talking and hanging out with other veterans.”

For information, visit k9sforveteransnfp.org and theforgottenwarriormemorial.org.