By Rebecca Frankel
Chief Canine Correspondent
The devastating and long-lasting effects of PTSD are
something Tom has discussed at length on this blog. It seems that the trauma of
war does not discriminate -- war dogs get PTSD, too.
Despite their special training, some dogs don't ever adapt
to the conditions of a war zone or life as a bomb-sniffing dog. Such was the
case with Gunner,
a yellow Labrador with "liquid brown eyes."
When Gunner first arrived to serve with Marines in
Afghanistan his trainer decided he was too distracted and "so skittish that
the troops never risked sending him on patrol." The Marines decided he
wasn't fit for duty and Gunner was put up for adoption. He couldn't have found
a more fitting home -- Gunner was adopted by the Dunhams, a couple whose son,
Jason, a Marine, died after sustaining shrapnel wounds from a grenade
blast while serving in Iraq.
"My Marine never came home," says Jason's mother.
"I have a place for a Marine."
When the Dunhams heard about
Gunner they filled out an application and then drove 16 hours to collect and
bring the dog home. From the beginning the couple was aware of the dog's
condition -- as Deb Dunham told the Wall
Street Journal: "[Gunner] was declared excess, which really offended
me because he's not excess. He's just disabled."
But Gunner's
"disability" was perhaps more complicated than his new family
realized. He would only sleep in his crate and was jittery
("even the site of cameras sent him slinking"). Early on in his stay with the Dunhams, a thunderstorm
sent Gunner "cowering with his nose in the corner [of his crate] and his tail sticking out the
door."
But the Dunhams remain positive and
patient with their new charge. As Mr. Dunham told the WSJ:
'I think Gunner will overcome. Everybody's resilient -- human and dog.
To us it's like Jason died yesterday,' says Dan. 'To Gunner,
whatever happened to him -- it's probably like that happened yesterday. We get
up each day and find a new way to get through the day realizing that Jason's
not here. We have to pass that on to Gunner.'"
Special thanks to
Michael M. Phillips of the Wall Street Journal for his great article and for sharing his photos of Gunner.
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