The Nevada Military Support Alliance is holding a dinner and gala on May 23rd to talk about how to support veterans, whether you have two legs or four.
The NMSA also partners with Liberty Dogs. They tell us there is a difference between working dogs and regular pets.
Working dogs tend to have a purpose, usually a specific one. And during this event, they will highlight the need for veterans to have a service animal.
Sgt. Julian "Trent" McDonald (Ret), the owner and operator of Swamp Fox K9, shares a personal story with us about how working dogs can be lifesavers for veterans.
"When I was in combat, a dog named Laka got shot four times at a point-blank range with an AK-47, and she ultimately saved my life, and in doing so, she had to go into surgery, and after she got out of surgery, the military didn't know what to do with her, and they wanted to put her down," he said. "I fought tooth and nail to make sure that animal did not get put down, and in doing so, she became my companion as a civilian."
He went on to say, "Whenever a veteran comes out of the military, they lose a lot of identity. A lot of tradition is in the military. So when they get out, they lose that tradition. They lose their sense of purpose, and whenever the Nevada Military Support Alliance comes in and gives them the dog and the education behind the animal, and then they take care of that animal, they take care of the animal's vet bills, food, and training."
He adds, "She ended up saving my life; she gave me purpose in life."
John Brownell, the President of the Nevada Military Support Alliance, tells us that the organization was founded in 2003.
"As the war kicked off, there was a need to bridge that gap between servicemen coming home who had lost and paid that ultimate price in combat and paying a gratuity to the family, while those benefits were coming in to alleviate any hardship between the service members' sacrifice and taking care of the families," said Brownell.
They continued working on giving back to service members, especially giving purpose to veterans who got out of the military.
"Because of that, we were able to raise enough money," said Brownell. "We did seven adaptive homes across Nevada, we raised the capital to start the Fisher House in Las Vegas, we did the million dollars for the Veterans' Guest House, and we've done the education centers at UNR and TMCC."
McDonald says the organization will help take all the pressure off the veteran while also providing the service member with a best friend while they learn to become a civilian.
He says military service dogs are also a little different than regular service animals in terms of how unique they are.
"Anybody can have any sort of strong bond with an animal," said McDonald. "As far as these dogs and their purpose is to give purpose to the veteran. It's to help the veteran transition into this new life that they're fixing to be in."
McDonald also says, "They want to bring purpose to that veteran's life and give that veteran that quality of life, so they have something to essentially live for."
Brownell says, "The purpose of what we do here for our gala is to allow, on May 23rd, everybody serves, and everybody can support a veteran, so when a veteran goes to war, a soldier or guardsman goes to war, the community goes to war, and we want to bring. And anytime a soldier comes to you in your darkest moment, you can be that guiding light, whether you have two legs or four legs."
You can click the following links to find out more about supporting veterans or to learn more about Liberty Dogs service animals.
