Local purple heart recipient and motivational speaker Rick Yarosh announces the release of a new children's book inspired by his journey and his late service dog.

The book is called, "A Bridge Named Amos", which is a reference to his late service dog that helped him connect with students when he first started speaking at elementary schools.

The book includes stories about Amos and some of his duties as a service dog.

Yarosh wrote the book himself and enlisted artist Kevin Cannon to help bring the pages to life and appeal to children.

Yarosh said the book has been in the works for a few years and he's glad that it finally is available to the public.

Yarosh said, "I'm definitely not an author. I mean, yes, I authored a book, but I'm not a writer. So like, I didn't know how this would go, but to hear the reviews from people, it's just so amazing. And it's just awesome to know that Amos's legacy will live on forever now that we have this book."

You can find the book on amazon or you can reach out to sweethearts and heroes for purchasing inquiries.