What was a hobby soon became an obsession for one employee at Edward Hines Jr. VA’s Aurora Community Based Outpatient Clinic.
Kris Lohmar was never in the military but became inspired by the Veterans she interacted with daily as the clinic’s contracted security guard. Wanting to give back, the former wedding photographer began offering to photograph Veterans’ service dogs in the clinic at no cost.
“I take the photos on my iPhone and order the prints through a professional printing company. After putting the photos in frames, I purchase in bulk, I give them to the Veteran free of charge.”
Army Veteran Don Bozzi was amazed after Lohmar presented him with a framed photo of Shankle, his black labradoodle and bluetick coonhound mix service dog.
Won first prize in art competition
“I named him after my battle buddy Sgt. Joshua Shankle who I deployed with twice to Iraq. Shankle has been my buddy ever since.” Now, Shankle’s picture hangs alongside other family photographs in Bozzi’s Plano, Illinois, home.
“Kris really captured the essence of him and it is a beautiful picture. When she told me what she was doing it for Veterans and their service dogs for free, I thought that was very special.”
Samantha Schramuk, an advanced medical support assistant at the Aurora CBOC, echoes Bozzi’s sentiment. “What Kris is doing for the Veterans is really special. Seeing the Veterans’ faces when they receive their companion’s photo is priceless.”
Dog owners aren’t the only ones enamored with Lohmar’s photos. In September, she placed first at an art competition in Sandwich, Illinois, for a photo collage called “Our Other Heroes.”
Lohmar has photographed nine service dogs since starting in June and hopes to continue into the new year. “Capturing our other heroes is my way of giving back to Veterans who have given so much up for us.”
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