'Comedy Under The Stars' bawdy, touching

HELOTES Emmy-winning actor and comedian Brad Garrett of Everybody Loves Raymond fame was the politically incorrect cherry on top Sunday at a wounded warriors comedy show at John T. Floore Country Store.

Produced by Humor for Heroes, a nonprofit organization founded by Angela Pea and comedian and TV personality Cleto Rodriguez, Comedy Under the Stars presented wounded warrior comics Bobby Henline, Joe Kashnow and Raul Sanchez.

They were technically the stars of the show but plenty of the medical alert service dogs on the premises with their owners stole plenty of hearts, too.

Proceeds from the event benefit the Train a Dog, Save a Warrior program. More than 600 attended the outdoor event.

Bart Sherwood is program director for the San Antonio-based organization that has trained 339 service dogs since 2010 and has some 700 additional dogs being trained. Many are rescue dogs.

By his side was one of the dogs, a German shepherd mix named The Colonel. The trained dogs help veterans cope with post-traumatic stress disorder.

They can't cure PTSD, but they let you prevail, let you survive, Sherwood said.

The service dog's love and dedication is unconditional, he added.

The dog uses body language to help keep you calm. He can tell when something's wrong. The dogs give (wounded warriors) a reconnection back to their families.

Touring comedian Kashnow, an Iraq War veteran who lives in Baltimore, had his new service dog with him. The golden retriever sniffed and got acquainted with some of the other dogs, too.

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'Comedy Under The Stars' bawdy, touching