Joe and K-9 Roxy

My Name is Joe Hillstrom. My wife, Jackie, and I just celebrated our 15 year wedding anniversary and we have two beautiful daughters together (Jayce, (😎 and Jaedyn, (4)). I also have an adult daughter, Hannah. Hannah and her husband, Andrew, had a son last October (Kaenan) and made me a grandpa. I retired from the Air Force in 2022, after serving 20+ years in the 934th Airlift Wing Fire Department. I was deployed to Northern Iraq in 2009 for six months as a Firefighter. While serving in Iraq, I interviewed for the Saint Paul Fire Department and started the SPFD academy immediately after my deployment. I have been on Saint Paul FD for 15 years, the past two years as a captain. While I cannot imagine having not served our country or currently serving the City of Saint Paul, simply put: the service definitely has come with a cost to my own personal mental health and the relationships with those around me.
Growing up as a child, I always had a dog in the family and I wanted that tradition to carry on with my own family. Unfortunately, we lost our family dog a little over a year ago. Since then, our entire family has felt the loss. Recently, we found Roxy, an American Bulldog, and our family feels complete again. She has already provided so much support for my mental health, just with her presence alone. I am honored to be a part of the Soldier 6 family and cannot wait to start training with Roxy and truly witness the support that a service dog can provide.