In Service

The furthest thing from Donald McKee’s mind when he landed on D-Day was dogs.

Army Technician 5th Grade Donald McKee was studying electrical engineering at the University of Michigan when the United States was pulled into World War II. He decided to enlist.

McKee, along with the 175th Division, landed on the beach. A bullet entered McKee’s body. He struggled to survive – and did. He rejoined his unit as the 175th moved forward to the Battle of Brest. It was there that a bomb exploded near him. Rendered unconscious, he required months of surgeries and physical therapy.

He still was not thinking about dogs.

McKee recovered yet again. He returned to full active duty in the Philippines as a combat medic, earning two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star. He spent the rest of his life back in the States, where he volunteered for local Maryland volunteer organizations, gave presentations and advocated for memorials. Predeceased by his wife and without children, Donald McKee died in 2019.

“The biggest honor of my life was to take McKee to see McKee,” says veteran Geoff Beatty, who took his service dog McKee to visit the grave of his namesake at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. “To be able to keep his memory alive through my dog is a true honor.”

McKee the black Labrador Retriever was given to Beatty by Warrior Canine Connection (WCC), a Maryland-based nonprofit and an accredited member of Assistance Dog International that names all its service dogs after veterans and fallen warriors.

“McKee is the best dog,” Beatty says. “He has the innate ability to help me, sometimes before I even know I need help.”

Above left: Geoff Beatty and McGee. Above right: McGee at the grave of his namesake in Arlington National Cemetery.

Beatty, who served in the Navy, has PTSD. Sometimes, it gets the better of him. McKee steps into action when it does – nudging him, or putting his head in Beatty’s lap. The dog becomes a stress interpreter and interrupter. “He shifts my thoughts. He’s so great.”

There are not nearly enough dogs like McKee for veterans. A 2017 study found that 12.9 percent of veterans suffer from PTSD – a rate nearly twice that of civilians. In August 2020, 4.7 million veterans, or 26 percent of total veterans, had a service-connected disability.

Non-profit groups do their best to train and place dogs with veterans, but there are never enough – the demand far exceeds the number of dogs available.

But help is on the way. In August, the Biden administration signed the Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers (PAWS) for Veterans Therapy Act. The legislation requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to open its service-dog program to veterans with PTSD and to launch a five-year pilot program in which veterans with PTSD help train service dogs for other veterans.

“They are a special kind of magic,” says Debi Krakar, founder of The Dog Alliance, a non-profit in Cedar Park, Texas, that provides service dogs for Texas veterans and first responders at no charge.

Service member and service dog. Photo Courtesy of Warrior Canine Connection.

Dogs can take different approaches with their handlers who struggle with PTSD. Some mitigate the anxiety with gentle nudges. Others use deep pressure, leaning on their handlers to act like a weighted blanket to reduce stress. “The contact grounds them,” explains Krakar, who has been training service dogs for veterans for nearly a decade.

Then there are veterans who need help with physical and medical needs. Dogs can get their medications for them. Dogs can be their alarm clocks. They can stabilize them as they walk.

All that, and then there is the mental and emotional support the dogs provide.

“They know. There’s just this draw,” Krakar says of the process of matching veterans with their dogs. “The angels start to sing,” she says, adding that it’s one of the most rewarding aspects of her job. That, and seeing how a dog positively impacts not only a veteran’s life, but that of his or her family as well.

Photo courtesy of Warrior Canine Connection.

For Beatty, it’s been rewarding seeing the relationship McKee has formed with his family, most notably his daughter. “To see the bond McKee has with her is wonderful. It’s different from what I have with him. McKee is our family.”

Rick Yount, founder of Warrior Canine Connection, the organization that provided Beatty with McKee, has seen dogs change lives time and time again.

Yount recalls a Marine who was a patient at a VA hospital. He was from Camp Pendleton, the Marine was. He was suicidal. He spoke to no one. He kept to himself. He didn’t participate in therapy in any way. He had acute PTSD and had suffered a brain injury. Nothing was working to reach him. He was a lost cause.

Yount sat by the man with his dog, and didn’t say anything. The dog soon gave the Marine a kiss on the cheek. “The dog opened up an opportunity for me,” Yount says, “to ask him if he would help me train dogs for other veterans.”

The Marine decided to help. Fast-forward some years. The Marine is now married, has kids, and also has a master’s degree in social work to help others. An interaction with a dog sparked all that.

Ryan Kules is a retired Army Captain living in Phoenix, Arizona. On November 29, 2005, during his deployment in Iraq, a roadside bomb exploded.

Kules lost his right arm above the elbow and left leg above the knee. “Worst still,” he says, “the two service members in the vehicle with me were killed: Sergeants Mills and Hasse.”

Ryan Kules and Griff.

Kules worked with Fidos for Freedom, a non-profit in Maryland, to get his Labrador Retriever, Griff. “From when I first saw him … we just had a bond. He appreciates having a job and is motivated by doing so, especially when food is at the end of it. A trait we both share.”

Griff helps Kules retrieve items, helps him with his coat, and provides support getting up or down.

“Griff has taught me to be more confident in my ability to be solely responsible for something other than myself,” Kules says. “He relies on me for all his needs and, in turn, benefits me greatly.”

“It’s the power of the dog,” Krakar says. “What they can do for someone.”

For Beatty, Kules and others, having a dog has served them well. It’s made their lives better. And if there are spirits in this world, the spirit of Donald McKee is alive, too, in a four-legged creature eager to serve.