On April 24, 2004, during his second tour of duty in the Persian Gulf, Bruckenthal was part of a crew in a rigid-hull inflatable boat sent to inspect a suspicious dhow that was approaching an oil terminal in the gulf. As they prepared to board the dhow, it exploded. Bruckenthal was mortally wounded. Two others on the boat were killed and three were wounded. Bruckenthal was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star with V device, the Purple Heart, and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.

 

Telling His Story

The “Life of a Service Dog” blog posts are upbeat and engaging, told from the point of view of ADIT Nathan with  assistance from his handler. The first posting tells of Nathan’s experiences shortly after birth, including the fact that his sister Lori, named after Spc. Lori Piestewa who was killed in action in Iraq in March 2003, had also been selected to be a service dog. At the end of the post, Nathan is introduced to Perry and was told, “… I get to be with my human handler 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and go everywhere she goes.” One of the first places he visited was Washington, D.C.

The follow-up entry recounts Nathan’s May 2012 visit to the Capitol building. The purpose of the visit was to see U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C. According to Nathan, “He has been working to educate others about what service dogs can do for wounded warriors, allowing military working dogs from Iraq and Afghanistan to return home with their handlers, creating a memorial to military service dogs and supporting the effort allowing the Department of Veterans Affairs to assist veterans with the costs of service dogs, not just guide dogs.” It was at that meeting that Nathan was shown a letter from Ric Bruckenthal, father of his namesake. The post closes with a note about what the next post will be about: a trip to New York City, the Big Apple.

In the June post, Nathan explained, “As an assistance dog in training not only do I have to have mastery of many commands – around 30 before I am a year old – but I have to be exposed to just about anything and everything so nothing unexpected will happen when I am with the person I will be assisting.” Certainly a visit to New York City will contain a wealth of new experiences! The reason for the trip was to visit a foundation that was interested in providing funding for VMF, and Perry and Nathan were invited to do the canine part of a “dog and pony show.” In addition to the meeting, Nathan had his first experience with life and activities in New York City; one particular experience was watching a road maintenance crew at work. Instead of being frightened by the loud noise of a jackhammer, Nathan was fascinated. As Nathan explained, in his first home, the human mother would play objects that made all manner of loud noises. “So while some pups may be afraid of loud or wailing noises I associate these noises with the warmth and comfort of my first home, so they don’t scare me.”

A July update recounts Nathan’s visit to Bruckenthal’s gravesite in Arlington National Cemetery and a meeting on Long Island with the friends and family of his namesake. The visit to the cemetery was on a beautiful spring day and Nathan’s account of that event is touching. About a month later, they were on the train back to New York for a meeting with the Bruckenthals. As Nathan later wrote, “I liked Nate’s father from the moment I met him. He was warm and had a generous spirit. And he likes dogs!” Nathan was introduced to other family members and friends and posed for photos.

The Aug. 15 post is of his experiences at the FWS’ National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, W.Va., where Perry was attending a training seminar. The last post, on Nov. 29, is a summary of Nathan’s experiences thus far and of expectations for the future.

Nathan is now 2 years old and has graduated to the final round of training designed to evaluate his individual traits and personality in order to establish what type of person would make the best fit – in effect, a match-making evaluation. For a potential service dog, that means having a variety of different social experiences in other environments and homes. This includes families with small children, retirees who have health or disability conditions of varying degrees, whether Nathan would respond better with a female veteran (since his primary handler was a woman), or a man, or if that’s not an issue. Already a match was found for Nathan’s sister, and Lori and her veteran are starting their new life together.

Though obviously the most important thing is for Nathan to be matched with a veteran who provides the strongest bond, the people at Veterans Moving Forward expressed the hope that given the background and sense of duty of his namesake, that he eventually is connected with a veteran from one of the sea services.

This article first appeared in the Coast Guard Outlook 2013 Edition.