REPORTER: Aaron Lewis
Reese is no ordinary Golden Retriever. He is a companion dog carefully chosen and highly trained to assist people like Phil Bauer, one of thousands of US soldiers traumatised by war and maimed for life. Phil Bauer lost his leg fighting in Iraq and now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
PHIL BAUER, US WAR VETERAN: I deal with extreme headaches, I deal with confusion, I deal with anger, I deal with all these other symptoms.
Phil's tour in Iraq ended when his helicopter was shot down outside Faluja.
PHIL BAUER: I said the Lord's prayer - and, you know, braced for whatever impact. I pretty much kissed my butt goodbye. I landed kind of on my side - and the roof housing landed right on top of my legs, so right on, basically above my knees.
Pinned under a burning helicopter for over five hours, it's a miracle that Phil survived. Good boy! Ready? When he came home, he faced a new ordeal, unable to deal with his post-traumatic stress - he had an emotional breakdown, attempted suicide and lost his wife and children.
PHIL BAUER: I know the level of monster that I was at times. I spent in between the five years, I was home, I spent nine months almost locked in a room - avoiding my family, avoiding everybody, avoiding life, just to not hurt anybody and to keep myself safe.
Last year Phil was invited to come here - to East Coast Assistance Dogs or ECAD - a breeding and training facility for service dogs. That day was one of Phil's happiest since returning from war.
PHIL BAUER: The first time you kind of get picked by the dog and you have the feeling the relationship is going to work is the first time you really say the dog's name and "Come" or they're in a big group and the dog just kind of runs up to you - like "Yeah, I kind of like you, I'm gonna stay around".
REPORTER: How's that feel?
PHIL BAUER: It puts you on the top of the world.
These Golden and Labrador Retrievers are trained to pick up objects, help with balance, open doors, or push alarms if a veteran is unconscious or injured. Yes, good boy! Good dog, good dog! But they also help with the emotional and psychological disabilities that are common in war veterans. The dogs even learn military commands like 'cover' and 'block' - and respond by acting as a safe barrier between the veteran and the public.
PHIL BAUER: Basically my dog is my lifeline to being human. That he allows me to be in public, and not be, not overreact. He helps me maintain focus, helps me do things that I might not do on my own if I didn't have him.
LU PICARD, CO-FOUNDER, ECAD: So let me tell you what your responsibility as a handler is.
Lu Picard and her husband are co-founders of ECAD - and are pioneers in this new therapeutic field.
LU PICARD: Some of these guys come back and they're getting divorced, they've been gone too long, they're not the same person who left. How could you be the same person who left? Their heart has been sealed. So letting a person come in and saying "No, no, no, I love you or this or that" - sure - but what strings are attached to that? What if I have a nightmare in the middle of the night and hit you, does that mean you don't love me anymore? I didn't mean to do that, OK? With the dog, there is no strings attached.
Luis Montalvan, a decorated military captain, was one of the first war veterans to be given a companion dog.
LUIS MONTALVAN, WAR VETERAN: To have this highly trained and loving companion by your side all the time - is enabling. And it has enabled me to travel, to visit friends, to visit family, to go to school, to participate in advocacy efforts, to help other people and that's all I ever wanted to do. Off! Good boy!
Captain Montalvan served two tours in Iraq and has life-changing injuries. He suffered a spinal wound in close combat and traumatic brain injury from explosive attacks.
REPORTER: Is it literally the stuff of nightmares?
LUIS MONTALVAN: Yes. Stress, yes. Shake.
Like so many war veterans not all Captain Montalvan's battle scars are obvious. He struggles daily with post-traumatic stress disorder. Tuesday helps him balance, both physically and emotionally.
LUIS MONTALVAN: I used to wake up in a cold sweat and have most nights be filled with intermittent sleep. I was hyper vigilant and I didn't want to be amongst crowds and so, therefore relegated myself to my apartment. In getting Tuesday in the fall of 2008, it opened up a whole new world to me and it liberated me in a way.
WOMAN: A person who has honoured us by fighting for our country needs to be respected.
Luis Montalvan has spent the last two years advocating for public funds to pair soldiers with dogs like Tuesday.
LUIS MONTALVAN: As I speak out on behalf of people with disabilities
Along with Democrat Senator Al Franken, Luis helped shepherd in the Service Dogs for Veterans Act.
LUIS MONTALVAN: From resources that can only include the blessings and boundaries of a service dog.
It was almost universally accepted and voted for by Congress and it was passed this past September.
The bill means that training centres like East Coast Assistance Dogs will be busier than ever - and Lu Picard has plenty of help. She has turned ECAD into an outreach centre to provide vocational training to troubled youth.. Its orphans and juvenile delinquents who do the dog training. Haran is from Afghanistan, but he grew up in the United States. By 14, he was in juvenile detention. But now he's learning skills to keep him out of trouble.
HARAN: Before I came here, I had no patience. But with the dog, I gotta have patience. If I had no patience, I would go nowhere with the dog.
Lu Picard believes it's a learning experience both for the dogs and for those who teach them.
LU PICARD: It teaches affection. It teaches them to be patient, it teaches them to understand that everything doesn't come immediately - you have to work toward it.
And Marcus has found a new sense of pride.
MARCUS: It makes me feel very good. Because I have the brag rights to say that I trained that dog, and the dog is doing so well, and is helping someone that really needs it. And now that makes me proud of myself, because I helped someone, I helped the dog, and I helped someone.
A few days after my first visit, ECAD hosts its annual fundraiser. Phil Bauer's job today is to greet people - a job he says is a far cry from the days where he couldn't even leave his room.
PHIL BAUER: It's definitely comforting when you get around family and friends just to be able to relax - it's definitely something that wouldn't have happened at least two years ago - it's been a long process. This would be Blondie, one of our little puppies.
With more traumatised veterans returning home, these puppies will have a vital role to play in the future.
Reporter/Camera
AARON LEWIS
Producer
VICTORIA STROBL
Editor
WAYNE LOVE
Original Music composed by
VICKI HANSEN
18th July 2010