Captain Luis Carlos Montalván was at the San Diego Central Library recently sharing his story about the deep bond he formed with his service dog, .

“Trained dogs help you mitigate your dissabilities,” said Montalván, who is a 17-year veteran of the U.S. Army, having served multiple tours abroad, and who was decorated with numerous awards, including two Bronze Stars and the Purple Heart. “They help you improve your life, so much, that instead of feeling dissabled you feel enabled.”

Montalván, who is of Cuban and Puerto Rican descend, has written two books about his relationship with his service dog, the memoir Until Tuesday, and a children’s book, Tuesday Tucks Me In: The Loyal Bond between a Soldier and his Service Dog.

Montalván and Tuesday’s inspirational memoir was on the New York Times bestseller list in 2011, 2012 and 2013. In 2012, it won two USA Best Book Awards and received finalist honors for an Audio Publisher’s Association “Audie Award,” and an International Latino Book Award.

And Tuesday Tucks Me In has received wide acclaim from several sources including the Wall Street Journal and the School Library Journal, and Amazon.com has selected it as the “Best Nonfiction Children’s Book of 2014, so far.”

Although Until Tuesday is a memoir, Montalván said the book goes beyond his own life.

“This is less of a book about Tuesday and me, and more about trauma and healing,” he said during his presentation at the San Diego Central Library on December 18th. “But it is also a love story between a man, a human, and his dog,” he said.

He warns that it is not a new story.

“Love between humans and dogs pre-dates the written word.

Montalván said that it is also a book about the effects of war in the lives of those touched by war.

“It is about war after the war,” he said. “I try to talk about the effects of the war on the lives not only of the soldiers, but also the effects on their families.

“There are many books written about the effects on the warriors, but it is less common to find books about their families. This is unfortunate, because the effects of war have a lasting impact on families. Some effects are good, but many are painful. Some include changes that make life very difficult.”

Montalván said that sometimes the injuries suffered by war veterans are not visible.

“This right here (he said, pointing to his head) and this (he said, pointing to his heart), drive everything,” he said.

In 2007, Captain Montalván honorably departed the military, and in 2010, he, with Tuesday by his side, completed a mas-ter’s of science from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

“The book has been a mean to articulate some of the most difficult aspects of the recovery from war,” he said. “It’s a book about triumph over trauma, whatever the trauma might be. Everyone in life experiences trauma, whether it is divorce, death, domestic violence, war. There are many traumas in life.”

“Trauma is part of our journey, and dealing with trauma is the hardest part of that journey. How do we deal with it, if we deal with it?

“Trauma is a truth, it is a given in life. But I’m not looking at it and being negative or pessimistic. Quite the opposite: I’m writing about the goodness in life and in redemption. We really believe in the triumph of the spirit over whatever trauma.”

Montalván said that the book tours, presentations, and media interviews, have become part of his “mission of advocacy” in favor of mental health issues in veterans.

“Now after the Iraq que Afghanistan wars, we can talk candidly open about issues such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, something we never did in the past. PTSD is real; it is a huge wound, as significant as having an injury for something so serious that you have to go to the ER. PTSD is not a scratch. It is something serious.”

To learn more about Luis Carlos Montalván and his service dog Tuesday, and to learn more about his books, please visit www.luiscarlosmontalvan.com.