When Charlie Service came home from Vietnam, he tried to leave the war behind. But it never really let him go.
“In Vietnam, it was definitely combat,” he said. “And there was a lot of things in there that we did that we shouldn't do, or things that I don't even talk about today.”
The retired Army veteran earned three Purple Hearts for his service. But medals didn’t ease the invisible wounds he carried — flashbacks, anger and sleepless nights that would last decades.
“You come back with severe PTSD,” he said. “That’s what I have.”
A psychiatrist at the Department of Veterans Affairs eventually suggested a service dog.
That’s how Service met Chance, a yellow Labrador retriever who would become his constant companion.
“Initially, you don't know anything or what you're going to do,” he said. “You're coming in, you're going to train with a dog, but you don't have any idea what the outcome is.”
Service and Chance trained at Freedom Dogs, a San Diego nonprofit that pairs specially trained service dogs with veterans and active-duty service members coping with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries.
At a training center in Oceanside, veterans practice real-world situations — like going to restaurants and visiting public spaces — with their dogs by their side. For many, it’s the first time they’ve felt safe enough to rejoin the world outside.
The organization may soon lose its largest source of funding.
“We had a grant this past year for about $247,000. That was 42% of our operating budget,” said Peggy Poore, the nonprofit’s executive director. “So it’s a significant impact.”
The grant comes from the Department of Defense, which funds similar service-dog programs across the country. But this year, that funding is stuck in Congress’s annual defense bill negotiations.
“The amount of the grant across the United States is about 16 million,” Poore said. “And that was between the 28 organizations.”
Freedom Dogs currently supports about 25 veterans and service members. Without new funding, that number could drop by half.
“We will receive our final payment in December this year,” Poore said. “And then we're done.”
At a time when more than 6,000 veterans die by suicide each year, Poore said losing this support could be devastating. A 2022 study found that veterans paired with service dogs experienced fewer PTSD symptoms, less suicidal ideation and better social functioning than those without them.
“They already struggle with their sense of value,” Poore said. “Everything that they have sacrificed, everything that they have lived for, comes down to a number. And now to pull the funding for the service dogs that is often their last ditch is devastating.”
Freedom Dogs also works closely with Camp Pendleton’s Wounded Warrior Battalion, helping Marines and service members transition out of the military.
That includes 26-year-old Marine Chris Rojas, who joined the program about a month ago.
“Getting told you have all these mental health disabilities and issues you have to deal with, it’s heartbreaking,” Rojas said. “You start to think you’re broken.”
Rojas said Freedom Dogs gave him hope that healing was possible.
“This place gives me hope that I can be OK out here and I'm seen as a human and not a robot,” he said. “You know, I'm not just a number anymore.”
Poore said the dogs offer something medicine can’t.
“The dogs give us a window to form a relationship and start to build that trust,” she said.
She’s seen that transformation up close in veterans like Service.
“He learned a lot of coping skills,” Poore said. “It took us a long time to help him to really look at what was going on. His anger levels have gone down. His irritability has gone down.”
For Service, the difference is life-changing.
“Before I had him, I wasn't a very good person,” he said. “I was down all the time, depressed. The PTSD would kick in. But then after Chance comes along, it’s different. He’s kind of like my right, left arm, leg and all of the above.”
For Rojas, the possibility of pairing with a service dog feels like a second chance.
“I'm not scared anymore to transition out,” he said. “I have hope that I can be back to normal and integrate — becoming like successful and, you know, a good member of society again.”
But just as Rojas found hope, tragedy struck close to home.
Since the interview, two of his friends — both fellow Marines — have died by suicide. One had just begun the Freedom Dogs program.
For Poore, it’s another reminder of what’s truly at stake.
“Finding joy again, living life without fear,” she said. “If you could put a price tag on that, it's way more than what Congress is battling on approving for us.”
To keep its doors open, Freedom Dogs is now turning to local donors and sponsors to fill the gap left by federal uncertainty.
“Freedom Dogs needs that money,” Service said. “It needs that money to train dogs, to maintain participants like us.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, help is available 24 hours a day. Call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, or go here for online chat.
