Ten months ago, Chuck Hubert got a second chance at life.
After serving in the army for 12 years, Hubert struggled with daily activities, hindered by post-traumatic stress disorder. But when he adopted Liberty, a 2-year-old service pitbull, everything changed.
"She bridged the gap between me being a home body to me getting out," Hubert said. "I named her Liberty because she gave me freedom."
Hubert was the first veteran to take part in the Phoenix Animal Rescue’s PTSD Service Dog Training and Placement Program since its creation 10 months ago. He and Liberty came to the annual Veterans Day celebration in the Alachua County Veterans Memorial Park on Wednesday morning to support the program.
"I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for (Liberty)," Hubert said. "She saved my life."
Amanda Stoner, the veteran coordinator for the program, started the initiative in addition to the rescue service’s regular adoption program.
"Our veterans are coming home and are handed goodie bags of pills that don’t stop the panic attacks," Stoner said. "I just know that we can make a difference."
Stoner, who works with Hubert at the Veterans Association Hospital, mentioned how Liberty needed a veteran to partner with and Hubert volunteered. It took the pair 10 months of training before the adoption was complete.
It costs the program about $300 to train and care for the dogs, but the veterans don’t have to pay an adoption fee, said Michelle Dunlap, the director and founder of the rescue society.
She said she hoped being at the Veterans Day event with Hubert and Liberty gave people in the community some awareness about the program.
"I hope that people feel some hope helping their friends and loved ones coming back from Iraq and other war zones," Dunlap said. "I think this a great way for the community to come together to empower our veterans."
For Stoner, Hubert and Liberty are the first of what she hopes are several success stories to come.
"She is one of those pots of gold at the end of the rainbow," Stoner said. "She is so in tune to his needs."
Program coordinators have already begun looking to their next potential service dog, Bubbles, a 2-year-old pitbull at a Gainesville foster home. With a sweet temperament, Stoner said, Bubbles might be able to help another veteran like Hubert.
"Watching our veterans get a second chance at life is great," she said.
Martin Foley remembers the moment he realized he didn’t belong in Vietnam.
The second class Navy petty officer was stationed in a Vietnamese village during the war when American planes began dropping bombs. And he knew.
"It didn’t solve anything," Foley, now 66, said. "You could never drop enough bombs to solve the problem."
But he was still there Wednesday morning at the Alachua County Veterans Memorial Park, as he and other veterans were recognized for their service.
This year’s ceremony, which has been held in the park for more than 20 years, specifically recognized Vietnam veterans on the 50th anniversary of the war.
"Our veterans are our heroes," said Kim Smith, the director of the Alachua County Veterans Services and the event’s organizer. "They’re the most important group in our country, in my mind."
Given the hatred and disdain Vietnam veterans faced when they initially returned home from war, the ceremony focused on recognizing the services of the veterans during the war, no matter how long ago.
"It may be a bit belated, but let me say this," said Stephen Dodd, the Chapter Finance Officer with the Military Order of the Purple Heart, to the crowd. "Welcome home."
For Foley, the delayed recognition on Wednesday was meaningful because, he said, he will always love his fellow veterans.
"A thousand people can ignore," he said. "It just takes one person to love you."
-Emily Cochrane
