CARBONDALE, Ill. — Four veterans took a life-changing step Friday morning as they were matched with service dogs for post-traumatic stress disorder during a ceremony at This Able Veteran’s facility in Carbondale.
One of the veterans, Joe Braun, said he felt overwhelmed when he met his service dog, Able. The dog may have been the most excited one there.
Veteran Joe Braun meets his service dog Able Friday at a ceremony with This Able Veterans. Braun is one of four veterans to meet his service dog.
“It’s a big step going forward, so breaking out of where I’ve been and where I’m hoping to go, so Able’s going to hopefully free me up and take me forward,” Braun said.
Braun, a Marine Corps and National Guard veteran from Indiana, put off applying for nearly a year because he was nervous — but he’s excited about the resource and about the community he will join.
“Now that I’m here, I can’t believe how much they’ve already done for me … and what they’re about to do,” Braun said.
This Able Veteran, a nonprofit based in Southern Illinois, has spent the past 14 years pairing military veterans struggling with trauma wounds with specially trained service dogs.
But the dogs are only half the equation. The organization also provides emotional support and resources to help the veterans manage PTSD.
“It’s amazing what they’ve already done for me, and I’m looking forward what they’re yet to do for me as well,” Braun said. “I think the freedom and safety I’m hoping to gain with Abel is a lot better than I would have been able to achieve on my own.”
The veterans also take part in a comprehensive trauma resiliency course designed to give them tools for navigating life with PTSD.
Behesha Doan is the organization’s founder and head trainer. She said the real magic begins now.
“The development of the service dog is one part,” she said.
The moment marked the beginning of a three-week trauma resiliency program in which the veterans will train, bond and build trust with their new canine partners.
Four veterans got the chance to meet their service dogs at a pairing ceremony Friday. The veteran and their service dog will now go through more training to get to know each other.
According to officials with This Able Veterans, the relationships have the potential to be both healing and life-saving.
What makes the program life-changing, Doan said, is helping veterans build practical skills, understand their trauma and learn how to work alongside their service dogs.
Doan said the need for programs like theirs has only grown. Many veterans come back living lives very different from how they left, and the wounds they carry can be profound.
“The service dogs, and the bond that’s created, can be a powerful force in helping them heal,” Doan said.
Friday’s ceremony marked the start of that process for four new veterans, each with a dog trained for the last 18 months. Matching a dog to a veteran is no small task.
“We don’t just hand over a dog and hope it works out,” Doan said. “These dogs are trained specifically to meet the needs of their partner.”
But even more than that, Doan said they look for veterans who are truly ready for change. She said that’s when a service dog can really make a difference.
Brad Lam, a Carbondale native and Marine veteran, knows firsthand how deep that impact can go. In 2022, he was matched with his dog, Charity.
Brad Lam, left, sits next to his service dog Charity at Friday’s event at the This Able Veterans ceremony where four other vets met their service dogs. Lam and Charity graduated from the program in 2022.
“She saved me,” Lam said. “There were times I started going down the rabbit hole again, and if it wasn’t for her, I probably wouldn’t be here.”
Lam said Charity can sense when something’s wrong before even he does, grounding him and pulling him out of moments that used to spiral.
“She’s more than a dog. She’s a lifeline,” he said. “It’s not just the dog, though. It’s everything they teach you here. This program gave me tools I didn’t even know I needed.”
As Braun looked ahead to his weeks of training with his new dog, he felt cautious hope.
“I think the freedom and safety I’m hoping to gain with Able is a lot better than I would’ve been able to achieve on my own,” he said.
For Lam, the message to other veterans is that it’s OK to not be OK.
“It’s OK to get help,” he said. “I grew up in the ‘suck it up’ mindset, and that nearly broke me. But this — this saved me.”
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