Service Dog Program Dedicated to Helping Veterans with PTSD Gives Hope: 'He Saved My Life Many Times Over'

As an Army reservist called up for active duty and deployed to Iraq in early 2008, Joshua Whitney survived an attack 10 months later that left shrapnel in his left leg — but it was the memories of the attack that he couldn't recover from. For years he struggled with PTSD, anxiety, nightmares and physical pain, as his relationship with his wife and children deteriorated.

"I just stayed in the house, didn't talk to anybody," says Whitney, now 38, of Danville, Illinois. "My kids never knew whether I was going to be a nice dad or if I was going to be yelling or screaming."

Whitney, who works in accounting for the Veterans Affairs Department in Danville, had known about the power of service dogs and their ability to help, but he couldn't afford the cost.

Then in January 2017, Dave Hughes, a Coast Guard veteran, told him about a new program he founded to pair veterans with service dogs: Mission K9 Warrior. A month later, the nonprofit matched Whitney with a black lab named Harleigh, who is trained to sense Whitney's anxiety and anger, then jump on him, nudge him, or lay on top of him to keep him calm.

"I've told Dave this before: He saved my life, and Harleigh saved my life, many times over," says Whitney, whose relationship with his wife and children has improved tremendously since the pup's arrival. "I could never really ever repay Dave for that."

Hughes' deep concern for struggling veterans like Whitney led him to start Mission K9 Warrior, based out of the the Georgetown, Illinois American Legion Dornblaser Post 203.

Funded entirely through community donations, the all-volunteer nonprofit pays $15,000 per dog to Midwest Professional Canine Services in Tilton, Illinois, which trains each pup to help recipients with everything from depression to managing crippling panic attacks.

Since its start, the program has 18 matched dogs — most adopted from shelters — with area veterans, and two more are now in training.

"Without exception, every veteran comments on what a dog has done for them, and when they do, I cannot tell you — it makes my heart smile," says Hughes. "Every time the veteran meets his dog for the first time, I cry."

Hughes, 62, who grew up in the area, served in the Coast Guard out of high school for nearly nine years, followed by a 31-year career working for materials company Hyster-Yale until he retired.

He'd long been aware of the devastating effects of suicide; his wife's father, who served in Korea, killed himself when she was 12. "Their life was wrecked," Hughes says. "That whole family was wrecked."

With the rise in veteran suicides in his area, as well as nationwide (the CDC estimates at least 17 veterans kill themselves each day, though the actual number could be double that, according to a recent study) Hughes felt moved to help.

"Me, along with some of the other veterans in our American Legion, we're just scratching our heads, saying, 'This is awful. This is awful'," he recalls.

It was in 2016 when Hughes heard of another American Legion post raising money to pair a service dog with a veteran; after researching the idea, he presented it to his post.

"They overwhelmingly said, 'Yes, let's raise money to get service dogs'," he recalls.

The goal was to raise $15,000 to train and pair one dog, but thanks to tremendous community support and donations, they were able to fund two.

"And we knew at that moment, we were just going to continue," Hughes says. "And we did."

Hughes chairs a committee of 10 that thoroughly screen applicants. All must be combat veterans, and able to provide the dog with good care. Once a veteran is approved, a master trainer from Midwest Professional Canine Services contacts the veteran in order to tailor the training to that person's particular triggers and needs.

It has been a lifesaving gift for Neal Stephens, 43, of Fithian, Illinois, who had a 21-year-career with the Army National Guard and two deployments to Iraq. After leaving the military, the married dad had "very dark, suicidal thoughts," he says. "I separated myself from people. It was just a very depressing, bad time for me. The demons of deployment caught up to me."

He learned about the power of service dogs through a counselor, and research led him to Mission K9 Warrior. He now has a constant canine companion in a 2-year-old Belgian Malinois, who even rides in a specialized carrier when Stephens goes out on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

The dog is trained to sense Stephens' unease in crowds, and will stand between him and other people "to keep people from walking up behind me," he says.

"The biggest thing she does is I'm never alone," says Stephens. "She's always with me; 24 hours a day she's with me."

When he went to thank Hughes for this gift, Stephens received another: Hughes asked him to join the board of Mission K9 Warrior. The pair now together to screen veterans who want a dog.

"It hugely, hugely helps me," Stephens says. "Being part of this team gives me the ability to feel my worth."

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.