Saving Soldiers; Pet Therapy; Soldier Support
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: I don`t care what your politics are. Most of us can agree that we must support our troops. We must give them the protection they need in battle. We must try to bring them home safe and sound to their loved ones. As a former army surgeon, Dr. Keith Rose has seen many terrible things. Nothing could prepare him for the day he watched a soldier die while he was on a humanitarian mission overseas.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: Former army surgeon, Dr. Keith Rose will never forget watching a soldier die while on a humanitarian mission.</s>DR. KEITH ROSE, FORMER ARMY SURGEON: I came across an incident that happened and was involved and watched a man bleed to death. The man was in an accident to where we could not get to him. Could not get in the car and he just sat there and bled out. Had he had a tourniquet, and we were trying to get him one. In just a few minutes he had lost consciousness. It`s very difficult when you watch someone bleed to death and know that that`s a preventable problem.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: Currently, the military issues each soldier one tourniquet and it`s up to them where to store it. Most put it in their backpacks or pockets. But once a soldier is hit, then they have to search for it which can take up precious time.</s>ROSE: I started thinking, how are they going to get to a tourniquet fast? I mean, if you`re going to put a tourniquet on a leg that`s wearing a holster, you have a pocket shoved full of magazines and other things, you need a clean seal around the leg. So I started thinking it just made sense to put it into the clothes.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: So Dr. Rose designed a uniform with tourniquets built into the shirts and pants. Soon after, he got in touch with Blackhawk. This is a company specializing in military gear. Blackhawk`s owner Mike Noell is a former Navy</s>SEAL. MIKE NOELL, OWNER BLACKHAWK: My initial thought was it`s another tourniquet. I didn`t understand the impact. And once I got it, he explained to me, you know, the details of how speed is the key if you have a major injury. That immediately hit home and we decided that this is something that we can really get behind.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: After 18 months of design and testing, the integrated tourniquet system is now ready.</s>ROSE: Flip, pull out the slack. Then use the winless (ph) mechanism over the pinch plate to keep you from having what we call a pinch pain. Then once you have a good, firm occlusion, you don`t have any active bleed, you secure it and replace the flap and you`re done.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: But here`s the rub. The tourniquet pants are now available for $90. And Blackhawk says the next step is convincing the military to buy these pants and issue them to every single one of our heroes.</s>NOELL: This type of process with the military could take years. We`re hoping that we can shorten that time frame; the sooner the better. We can save lives tomorrow morning at 8:00 if we can get this on the soldiers.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: Extraordinary how one person can make a difference to so many. With me now, Roger Charles, a retired marine corps lieutenant colonel and editor of "Defense Watch" news magazine for the "Soldiers for Truth Foundation." Roger, you have investigated and written about body armor supplied to our troops. Now, of course, the reputation of our American military has long been that we have the best equipped, best protected troops in the entire world. Has that been true for the U.S. Troops in the Iraq war?</s>ROGER CHARLES, EDITOR, "DEFENSE WATCH": Unfortunately, it`s not true.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: And if so, why? We just saw this tourniquet system that these two men who have developed this said it could take years to get through the U.S. military. That`s a very simple idea that anybody can get just looking at. It`s not high tech. Is there too much bureaucracy that prevents an innovation like that from being snapped up and implemented immediately?</s>CHARLES: You nailed it right on the head. The bureaucracy will take the approach that it wasn`t invented here. It`s actually seen as an embarrassment to their reputation and a threat to their own programs that someone outside has come up with something. We`ve got this huge research and development apparatus in the military that should have come up with this years ago. And here`s Dr. Rose coming up with something so simple that it`s just brilliant. And, yet, I fear that it will take years before his invention gets out into the field.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now two things that resulted from your investigation. You claim that the grunts, the average soldiers, get inferior body armor to what the special ops units get. And you also say that the examination of body armor on dead U.S. troops has recently been labeled classified. Do you think somebody is trying to cover up a problem?</s>CHARLES: Oh, absolutely. There`s no question. This information was not classified at all three years ago. We have documents that are unclassified dealing with this very subject. And now, it`s classified top secret. So somebody is wanting to hide something, hide it from the American people, and I think hide it from the U.S. Congress and so far as they seem to be succeeding.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let`s hope they don`t succeed for long. Stay on top of this story. Break it to Congress and let`s, as a nation, take a look at it because our troops deserve the very best. Thank you so much, Roger. Good luck with your work. Ever had a therapist lick your face? For some of our injured veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, that`s not some bizarre experience. Instead, it`s a regular occurrence. And these medics on a mission also have tails. That`s a hit. Take a look.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: You don`t really expect to see dogs walking in the hall of Walter Reed Army Medical Center. But these dogs are in the hallways and they are on a mission. Their mission: to help injured soldiers going through rehab forget the pain.</s>MOLLY MORGAN, THERAPY DOG OWNER: We go around to many of the wards and the clinics and the rooms and visit soldiers. And our mission is to bring a little happiness, a little comfort, a little feeling of home.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a beautiful dog.</s>MORGAN: At first we sort of startle people. But then when they see us, then you suddenly see their demeanors just becoming more and more calm and they settle in and they want to see us and talk to the dog. Then they just seem to take a little break from what they are going through. And what they`ve been through in the last couple of months.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: The dogs and their handlers are trained and certified by PAL, "People Animals Love." This group was started in 1981 by a veterinarian who knew firsthand how animals could truly lift spirits.</s>DIANA HENSLY, RETIRED SOLDIER: It`s a welcome relief because they are friendly and pretty. Yeah, it really boosts your morale when you see the people bring in the dogs.</s>PFC JOHN HOLT, SERVED IN IRAQ: While I was in the hospital bed, they brought over all the dogs and they were just really nice to see and made me happy; they just made me think about home. They helped me out because it`s just -- I don`t know -- there`s something about animals. Just real happy dogs make you feel a much better.</s>STAFF SERGEANT RENEE, SERVED IN IRAQ: It`s very therapeutic for me because you are in a lot of pain, and, you know it kind of takes your mind off of what you are actually feeling and what you are going through for the moment that they are here.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: So after a long day of spreading their special bond of cheer, these dogs know that they`ve done their job to help a soldier relax and forget if only for a few minutes.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: With me now to remind us how animals can truly lift spirits is Wells Jones, chief executive officer of America`s Vet Dogs. And with him is Maverick, a beautiful golden lab who is a certified therapy dog. Wells, your group provides guide, service and therapy dogs to disabled veterans throughout the United States. But Maverick, who`s kind of frisky there, the therapy dog is about to leap for a combat zone in Iraq. And, yeah, you got -- that`s okay. I`ve had my dogs on TV many, many times. It`s a work in progress and it`s television. Tell us the story of Maverick and what his mission in Iraq is going to be.</s>WELLS JONES, CEO AMERICA`S VET DOG: Well, I will indeed. It`s good to see you, Jane. Maverick, although uncomfortable up on a table, but Maverick is --</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: So am</s>I. JONES: I think we all would be. Maverick is trained to go to the Middle East in the winter and he will join a combat stress team there and be part of therapy for the troops in Iraq or Afghanistan. We already have two dogs over there, Bo and Budge. They are sergeants first class in the army, and they perform an important role in helping therapists work with our soldiers in the combat zone.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, you know, the thing is that dogs hit you on a different level than human beings do. Usually you have mixed feelings about any human being. With dogs, it`s just an unconditional love that goes back and forth. When they come to visit a soldier, they don`t care whether that soldier is missing legs or is depressed. Their tail is wagging. So that unconditional love is truly healing.</s>JONES: Absolutely and they are also wonderful ice breakers because they represent normalcy and home and warmth. And so they`ll open a conversation with a therapist that may not be open otherwise.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: What I thought was fascinating was the story I read of this dog Larry. In 2007, he was assigned to a sergeant who was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, having nightmares. His hands were shaking. He was a mess. After getting Larry, his life totally changed and this dog can even alert the sergeant to when an attack is coming on. Some kind of bond he has with the soldier.</s>JONES: Absolutely. Larry was trained by our organization to provide balance, to help the sergeant brace himself and get up, if he falls. He was trained to fetch items, and he was trained to alert, in our parlance, to a seizure to let someone know that the sergeant had had a seizure and get help. But what he`s learned to do since, by his bond with the sergeant, is to anticipate a seizure as much as three hours before.</s>VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow. Well, listen. I know there are two therapy dogs that are already in Iraq working with soldiers, helping them, not just when they are injured but when they are depressed. And I want to make sure Maverick has a very safe journey to Iraq and back. We`ll talk to you when he comes back. Thank you, Wells, so much. Great work. You know, it started with a care package for her son in Iraq; now, one mom has more than 180,000 volunteers sending packages and letters to thousands of soldiers overseas. I`ll have the extraordinary story when we come right back.