DAYTON, Ohio — A dog is a man’s best friend.
The bond is even more special for wounded veterans and their service dogs.
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News Center 7’s Cody Butler was with a veteran just outside Wright Patterson Air Force Base when one veteran received a new partner.
“It opens up the world to me,” said Rich Luidet, a Marine Veteran.
Luidet earned a Purple Heart after being hurt in the 1984 Beirut U.S. Embassy Bombing.
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He’s had a service dog for years.
“I don’t really like crowds,” he said. “I really don’t like being out in public. I don’t like if I have to go to a hotel and any strange place, things like that. The dog just allows me to be a part of the world again.”
His first service dog died 9 months ago.
“It’s been a long nine months,” Luidet said.
“Nightmares, they’ve come back pretty strong since I lost my other dog,” he said.
Wednesday, Rich was presented with a new service dog named Mick.
“The replacement dog is just like getting a first one all over again, new dog, new ways, new personality, all that sort, so yeah, it’s pretty amazing,” he said.
Rich received Mick thanks to ACV Veteran Resource Group, which made for Mick’s training.
“There’s lot of veterans like we met Rich today who had a service dogs and service dog aged out and unfortunately passed away,” said Tony Perkins, ACV Veteran Resource Group. “And there’s just a lack of funding to support replacement of that dog.”
It’s a cause Perkins knows too well.
“I know how important that dog is to me at different periods of my life, and how that dog supports me, and I just couldn’t imagine losing that dog without having a replacement,” Perkins said.
Now Rich has a new lease on life.
“It just allows me to feel like anybody else out there,” Luidet said.
If you’d like to have other veterans get service dogs, you can donate to Hunters Helping Heroes.
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