thank you. last week the nation mourned the passing of our 41st president george h.w. bush who dedicated his life to service. one of the many striking images that touch all our hearts was this photograph of his service dog sully lying in front of his casket, his faithful champion to companion to the end. it s a reminder that heroes come in all shapes and sizes, and some have tails. sully is a service dog from america s vet dogs, and i m very pleased that sully is here tonight with his trainer valerie kramer. please welcome sully and valerie. [ applause ] normally you don t pet a service dog because they are working but valerie said it s okay because technically sully is not walking. sully will soon go to the walter
normally you don t pet a service dog because they are working but valerie said it s okay because technically sully is not walking. sully will soon go to the walter read hospital in washington, d.c. where his services will continue helping more veterans. he s two and a half years old, so he s got a lot of contributions to make in the future. thank you for all you do. thank you. and it s incredible. sully was actually trained initially by prisoners, is that right? yeah. in our prison program and then came to our foundation where i completed the training. that s amazing. here to tell us how a veteran in kansas city, missouri is guiding and helping veterans rebuild their lives is the granddaughter of president bush whose social business feed is helping fight childhood hunger around the world and here in the united states. please welcome lauren bush. lauren. [ applause ]