Frances Sharples
Veteran, West Point alum, and upstanding community member Brett Hurlburt is being recognized by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) #StillServing campaign for the second time in two years.
The campaign, according to the VFW website, honors and platforms the stories of hundreds of veterans worldwide who continue to support their respective communities through volunteerism.
“The VFW likes to highlight veterans that are still serving their communities in several different ways,” Hurlburt said. “I just happened to be picked up for ‘Still Serving’ when you have a service dog or an animal with you.”
Hurlburt’s #StillServing feature would not be complete without the lovable support of his dog, Rotary, or Roty, for short.
Growing up on a farm, Hurlburt’s life has been consistently affected by animal companionship, leading him to his current volunteerism at Sunshine Horses.
Hurlburt’s work with animals, along with Rotary’s role as a service dog for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), has helped him manage some of his anxieties and become more outgoing.
“I think animals just add a lot to our lives, and they pick up on things that we don’t know about,” Hurlburt said. “When I found out I had PTSD and that I could get a service dog, it just made sense. Roty picks up on things that I don’t even know are coming.”
Hurlburt’s understanding of care and devotion for animals, however, is not by any means a one-way street.
“If you have empathy for animals, you have empathy for people,” he said. “There’s a nice connection with them—they don’t question, they don’t ask things about you. They just want love, and they give it freely in return.”
This free-flowing nature of connection and belonging is one that Hurlburt relates to adjusting to his life post-service.
“I have capacity in my life for other people,” Hurlburt said. “When you decide to serve your country, you’re trying to serve for the greater good, and I’m still doing that—it’s still for the greater good…I was medically discharged and kind of told, ‘Hey, you can’t run and jump like the rest of the kids—you gotta find another path.’ You kind of feel shut off from your community; but in doing the things that I’m doing, it’s like going into a new family.”
The principles of the #StillServing campaign as a whole reflect the honorable commitment of the veterans the campaign recognizes.
“This just really does show that even though we might leave service, we really never leave service,” Hurlburt said. “[We] serve the country in uniform, and now we go out and serve our communities.”
In addition to advocating for the benefits of community service and interconnectedness with the world around us as steps toward healing, Hurlburt emphasized the importance of resources for veterans, such as those provided by the organization Clear Path for Veterans.
With locations in Vestal, Syracuse, and Chittenango—the location where Hurlburt and Rotary first connected—the wellness and enrichment-focused resources that Clear Path provides are accessible to veterans throughout New York State.
