Patriot story: Anthony + Oaklee (Beth will write)

Adoption date: 2019 Pet details: 10 year old Pit Bull Terrier mix Branch of service: Navy veteran Location: New York Shelter and link to webpage: Lollypop Farm http://petsforpatriots.org/partners/lollypop-farm-hs-of-greater-rochester  

Pet's name
	Oaklee
A little about me
	Currently I'm working as a Mobile Engineer and while I reside in Upstate NY I travel nationwide. Currently married with a wife and two kids. I have an 11 year old girl who plays travel softball and a 9 year old boy who enjoys playing music with him drum set and soon to be learning the stringed bass.
My military experiences
	I spent 10 years as a Construction Mechanic in the Navy Seabees doing a little bit of everything. Was assigned and work with a Construction Battalion(Gulfport, MS) , Served with an Amphibious unit (Virginia Beach) aiding in the offloading of cargo material from ship to shore, and finally a dive unit(Virginia Beach) doing underwater construction. For the most part my time was spent as a mechanic for heavy equipment such as dozers, excavators, cranes, and loader. We also spent time working on HMMWV, all variants of MTVRs, JERRVS, and MRAPS. It was something that I enjoyed doing and since separating has allowed me to have a successful career
My most memorable experience from my time in service
	When i was with the amphibious unit we were out operating in some conditions we probably shouldn't have been but it happens. We were trying to help keep an LCU from broaching but the waves in the surf zone were so large it kept pushing us off and moving us to the point that we thought the equipment we were on might roll. Due to this we were having issues between traction and making it hard for our operator to control. But we got the job complete and the LCU was able to get off the beach and out of the surf zone. So we were able to get back onto the beach and kind of reflect on what all happened. We shared a laugh, and looking back could reflect on how close things were to going bad. It was a good bonding experience for our crew and brought us all together and made our future deployment and operations a breeze.
Why I chose to adopt a pet
	With being gone from time to time we wanted to get a pet to help keep my family company plus we love animals so its always just a win/win.
Why I chose to adopt through Pets for Patriots
	Pets for Patriots was actually recommended to us when we were at the Humane Society as they worked with veterans. So I reached out and had a very positive experience with them
How my adopted pet has changed my life
	We adopted Oaklee from the Humane Society as a senior at 10 years old. We had originally gone to the Humane Society for a different dog and during our meet and greet it just didn't work out. So afterward we were looking around and saw Oaklee so we asked. Once we met her we knew we wanted to adopt her. She is so full of love and joy it was amazing. While now she is currently 12 years old you'd be hard pressed to tell that looking at her as she is just so happy and always loving and wanting to play. It always just brightens even your worst day getting to lay with her or spend time with her.
What I love most about my new pet friend
	I love that even at 12 years old if i pull out and tennis ball and just bounce it once Oaklee is instantly up and wanting to play like a puppy.
What I would tell other veterans who might be thinking about adopting through Pets for Patriots
	Pets for Patriots is an excellent program that helps out so much and has such a great network of different companies they work with that its just amazing.