THE BIG YELLA FELLA AND HIS PTSD COMPANION ROBERT MACPHERSON

YOU MAY HAVE READ MY ARTICLE IN SEPTEMBER OF 2022 ABOUT UNDERSTANDING PSYCHIATRIC SERVICE DOGS.  MY INTEREST WAS INSPIRED WHEN I READ THE BOOKS BY LUIS CARLOS MONTAVAN, WHO HAD BEEN A CAPTAIN IN THE U.S. ARMY WHERE HE SERVED TWO COMBAT TOURS IN IRAQ, RECEIVING TWO BRONZE STARS AND THE PURPLE HEART.  MONTAVAN AND HIS PTSD RESCUE DOG, TUESDAY, PUBLICLY ADVOCATED FOR BENEFITS OF SERVICE DOGS TO VETERANS AND OTHERS WITH DISABILITIES, EVEN SPEAKING BEFORE CONGRESS.  THE FOLLOWING STORY IS ABOUT ANOTHER VETERAN WHO BENEFITED FROM HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH A SERVICE DOG, NAMED BLUE.

ROBERT MACPHERSON HAILED FROM PITTSBURGH, PA. IN HIS SENIOR YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL HE DECIDED TO JOIN THE MARINES.  (SOME OF YOU MAY REMEMBER MY DECEASED HUSBAND’S GRANDDAUGHTER, STEPHANIE, WHO WORKED FOR ME BEFORE JOINING THE MARINES, AND IS CURRENTLY STATIONED IN JAPAN.)  AFTER RETIRING FROM THE MARINES, ROBERT SPENT 20 YEARS FIGHTING GLOBAL POVERTY AND WORLD HUNGER LEADING THE EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM IN WAR-TORN PLACES LIKE BOSNIA AND RWANDA, SOMALIA, DAFUR, HAITI, IRAQ, AND AFGHANISTAN.

ROBERT HAD A DIFFICULT TIME IN ADJUSTING TO “NORMAL” CIVILIAN LIFE.  HE WAS SUFFERING FROM THE DEVASTATING, INVISIBLE AND CRUSHING DISEASE OF POST TRAUMATIC STRESS SYNDROME.  IT IS SOMETHING THAT AFFECTS SO MANY VETERANS OF WAR, BUT BECAUSE IT IS NOT PHYSICALLY APPARENT LIKE A LOST LIMB, MANY VICTIMS TRY TO IGNORE ITS PRESENCE, OR SELF-MEDICATE.  “INITIALLY” SAYS MACPHERSON, “THE CLASH BETWEEN MY EGO AND REALITY MADE ME HESITANT TO WANT A TRAINED COMPANION.”  WHEN YOU HAVE A DOG BY YOUR SIDE WITH A VEST THAT SAYS SERVICE DOG, IT IS AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO EVERYONE THAT YOU HAVE ADMITTED TO A PROBLEM THAT REQUIRES ASSISTANCE.

ROBERT DECIDED TO CONTACT SOUTHEASTERN GUIDE DOGS WHOSE MOTTO IS “SERVING THOSE WHO CANNOT SEE AND THOSE WHO HAVE SEEN TOO MUCH.”  IN HIS INTERVIEW HE SAID HE WANTED A LABRADOR RETRIEVER LIKE THE ONE WHO GREETED HIM AT HOME EACH TIME HE RETURNED DURING HIS DUTY TOURS.  THE BIGGER THE BETTER.  BEFORE HE MET BLUE, HE WAS TOLD THAT SINCE THE CREATION OF THE SCHOOL IN 1984, THE DOG CHOSEN FOR ROBERT, WAS THE BIGGEST LAB EVER BORN IN THE FACILITY.  A YELLOW LAB WEIGHTING NINETY POUNDS WITH “EARS THE SIZE OF DINNER PLATES.” ROBERT WATCHED THE DOG BOUND OVER TO HIM AS HE CROUCHED DOWN FOR THE IMPACT AND WAS PLASTERED WITH A WET TONGUE AND A WHIZZING WAGGING TAIL.  THE LOVE BOND WAS IMMEDIATE.

BLUE HAD GRADUATED WITH 23 MONTHS OF TRAINING WHICH WAS DEMONSTRATED TO ROBERT OVER THE NEXT 12 DAY IN THEIR INTERACTION.  “ON THE FIFTH NIGHT OF TRAINING, I HAD A NIGHTMARE.  THEY WERE BECOMING MORE FREQUENT AND SEVERE.  WHILE STILL IN THE NIGHTMARE, I FELT A SUDDEN PRESSURE ACROSS MY CHEST.”  ONCE ROBERT BECAME FULLY AWAKE HE REALIZED THAT BLUE HAD PLACE PRESSURE OVER HIS CHEST TO RESTRAIN HIM AND PLANTED KISSES ON HIS FACE TO AWAKEN HIM.  IN MANY WAYS LIKE THIS, BLUE HAS HELPED ROBERT MANAGE HIS ANXIETIES, ANGER AND DEPRESSION.  ROBERT IS  ABLE TO FULFILL HIS WRITING CAREER, HAVING WRITTEN A BOOK HONORING THE HUMANITARIANS WITH WHOM HE WORKED IN THOSE IMPOVERISHED COUNTRIES, AND, THANKS TO BLUE, HE’S WRITTEN A BOOK ABOUT THE INCREDIBLE COMFORT COURTED BY SERVICE DOGS.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR FEEDBACK ON MY ARTICLES.  AND FOR SUPPORTING THE WAGGING TAIL.