Military personnel experience a lot of trauma during their active duty; that is why when they retire, they usually have PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). Retired military personnel are often paired with a service dog to help them cope with the stress they have experienced from their service.
Retired Marine Sergeant Jeremiah Marcum had served the United States Marin Corps for 11 years. He was deployed five times, which includes Afghanistan, Cuba, and Iraq. He used to be part of the 1st Batallion, 9th Marines (now deactivated), and Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team (FAST). Sergeant Marcum spent the last three years of his military service at Camp Lejeune in the Wounded Warrior Batallion.
Sergeant Marcum had Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Bobby, a two-year-old Golden Retriever, was paired to him by K9s for Warriors to help him cope with the effects of PTSD. K9s for Warriors is proactive in ending suicides among retired military personnel due to PTSD, and by pairing the veteran to a service dog, they believe that it will help a lot in the recovery from the psychological trauma. K9s for Warriors is the biggest provider of service dogs to military retirees in the United States.
After the dog and the retiree are paired, they will be trained together at the K9s for Warriors facilities. The duo has to complete 120 hours of training so that they would be able to familiarize each other and to know each other’s needs.
Sergent Marcum was at first adamant about getting a service dog to help him cope with PTSD. Later on, he changed his mind when he first saw Bobby.
Life has never been the same for Sergeant Marcum after he had Bobby in his life. They go shopping together, go to events together, and even attended a wedding as groomsmen!
K9s for Warriors has been training dogs they have rescued from shelters, and Bobby is one of them. They have already trained more than 1,000 rescue dogs and paired 600 of them to the retirees.
Make memories together, Sergeant Marcum and Bobby!
Photo courtesy of Jeremiah Marcum via Facebook
