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Since serving with the Marines in Afghanistan and Iraq, veteran Jarrett Gimbl, 32, has had a difficult time readjusting to civilian life.
After being injured on active duty by a blunt force trauma to the head — he declines to go into the details of the event — Gimbl was honorably discharged in 2009.
In the years since, he’s suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and struggled with bringing order to his daily life, which is not nearly as regimented as life in the Marines. Some days, it’s hard for him just to leave the house.
“There were times when I wanted to end it,” says Gimbl, who currently works in retail and has had a hard time finding and keeping a steady job.
But the troubled vet has found help in an unlikely place: a hound and Great Dane mix named Gunny that he adopted nearly two years ago from Guardians of Rescue, a nonprofit national organization dedicated to helping animals in need. “Gunny knows when I’m upset. If I go sit down, he sits next to me,” Gimbl says. “He’s a companion and a best friend.”
In March, Guardians of Rescue President Robert Misseri launched the Paws of War program, after seeing how much dogs like Gunny had helped former servicemen and women. The program’s mission is to match veterans in need of therapeutic companionship with suitable dogs in need of homes. The animals are trained to meet their vet’s specific needs.
“We have a veteran who has a very bad drinking problem,” says Misseri. “His wife asked us to pair him with a dog that is trained to distract his attention to something else.”
While Gunny and Gimbl found each other before Paws of War’s official inception, the dog is now being trained through Paws to be even more helpful.
The 8-year-old pup was just certified as an emotional-support animal; he’s now being taught to help Gimbl to relax while driving.
“[Gunny] plays that drill sergeant role,” explains Misseri. “It’s little things you don’t realize a dog can do that you take for granted . . . [he can] grab his leash himself and motivate Jarrett to go out and walk him.”
Misseri was especially inspired to launch Paws of War after seeing how much John Walis, a former Army corporal who served in Afghanistan, had been helped by adopting his dog, Tommy.
“I credit him with saving my life,” says Walis, 45, who lives in Babylon, LI. He has been diagnosed with PTSD and is still receiving VA treatment for its symptoms, including severe depression. “Having Tommy out in the park, at the beach, gets me out of the house.”
Some of the dogs in the program have back stories equal to their new owners. Walis’ Tommy was rescued from Afghanistan two years ago by a Marine. “We’re both veterans,” says Walis, who is now the program director of Paws of War. “We’re a good pair.”
Other dogs in this program were abandoned to kill shelters by owners who were in the military and had to deploy. And some, like Gunny, are shelter dogs with unknown pasts.
Wherever they come from, prospective Paws of War dogs are carefully screened to make sure they’re suitable for the program. Aggressive animals aren’t. “Not every dog is qualified,” says Dori Scofield, a dog trainer and the vice president of Guardians of Rescue.
But the right dog can be an immense help. “This is not to replace standard therapy,” she says. “But these animals are a key tool to helping veterans in their daily life.”
Former Army medic and PTSD-sufferer Daja Lacy, 25, hopes that her new dog, Tank, will help her. On a recent afternoon with Paws of War’s assistance, Lacy picked out the 7-year-old pit bull from a Long Island shelter.
“He’s so handsome,” Lacy says of the dog, who will soon begin training to help her get out of bed in the morning and to help relax her. “I’m in love with Tank. He’s that big ball of mush that I need by my side.”