Cathy Scott - Unconditional Honor: Wounded Warriors and Their Dogs

An imprint of Rowman & Littlefield

Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK

Copyright 2015 by Cathy Scott

Photographs 2015 by Clay Myers

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available

ISBN 978-1-4930-0329-7

eISBN 978-1-4930-1775-1

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

To all the wounded warriors for their heroism and sacrifice, and to their service dogs, heroes, one and all, who show more dedication to their human teammates than words can ever describe.

Contents

Foreword

Im Bill Walton. Its my unconditional honor, good fortune, and privilege to be Lance Weirs best friend. Lances story about life with his service dog is found in this book.

Words and phrases allow us to drill deep into the core of our unspoken emotions, passions, loyalties, and experiences.

Honor : Just do whats right.

Unconditional : without hesitation, reservation, limits, doubt, or uncertainty.

The combination of these two powerful words makes for an unbeatable force. Without them, we simply cannot winat anything.

I know Lance through our dogs. My wife and her team raise service dogs, and through her programs and organizations I have been able to meet, know, and learn from the finest people in the entire world. People like Kevin and LeAnn Buchanan; David and Rhonda Gruca; Betty and Tom Drumm; Andy, Caroline, Chase, Izzy, and Zoey Boyd; Nurse Ronnie and her husband, Jack Feehan; and, now, Lance Weir.

More recently, I am humbled to now be on the same team as Cathy Scott and Clay Myers through this magnificent book, Unconditional Honor .

This army may be small, but it is huge in its vision, dreams, and accomplishments. Through this remarkable group of people, I have become a better, happier person. I am the luckiest guy on earth to be happily married to Lori. As great as that is, however, Id rather be her dog. The four pillars of happiness in life are health, family, home, and the hope and dream that tomorrow will be better.

Unconditional Honor is the ultimate story of achieving happiness in life, despite hardships. We can be going along just fine, and then all of a sudden, something awful happens. Its by struggling through the ensuing journey, to get back up and going in the right direction, that we can find joy and fulfillment again.

Lance Weir was born in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. He is named after Lance Alworth, one of the greatest all-around athletes our country has ever known. Alworth, nicknamed Bambi because of his powerful abilities to bound over this most bountiful land, burst onto the national stage at the University of Arkansas, which is heaven on earth to all the young dreamers from the Natural State. A natural is what each Lance turned out to be.

Lance Weir grew up immersed in the culture of sports as both a participant and a spectator. He loved all that it gave hima sense of accomplishment, self-esteem, and being part of something special, with grander horizons than he could have ever imagined.

He too went to college in Arkansas, and continued chasing his dreamsincluding everything that sports and education meant to him: discipline, sacrifice, focus, determination, persistence, and perseverance.

From there, Lance made the ultimate commitment: He joined the US Marine Corps. He was a champion there as well, recognized as an expert marksman with a variety of weapons.

But then one day, twenty-one years ago, Lance got hurt, suffering an injury to his spine. He has been in a wheelchair as a quadriplegic ever since.

I met Lance about twelve years ago, and my life has never been the same either. Lori and I connected with Lance on the day he arrived in San Diego to be matched with Satine, his first service dog.

Unconditional Honor is the story of many people just like uspeople with dreams, hopes, aspirations, and plansbut also with problems. We all have intractable challenges and issues. Some of you just dont know it yet.

This book captures the lives and resilient nature of these people, and what happens when the ball bounces the other way in the biggest game of allthe game of life. It is the story of what it means to be part of a special team. Through her brilliant and creative prose, Cathy Scott makes you think long and hard, at times bringing you to tears. Clay Myerss touching pictures tie the stories together. As a team, these kind and generous souls have memorialized the pride and satisfaction of the countless numbers of soldiers who have given every bit of themselves for a greater calling, only to find themselves up against true adversity.

When the bad stuff first happens, the overwhelming sadness of this simple twist of fate often leads to dire and fatal consequences. Lance Weir knows this well, and so do I. We have both been there, done that.

But then the lucky onesagain, like Lance and mehave something, or someone, in our lives that enables us to find a way back into the game, back onto the team, back onto the long, hard climb that is the best part of this game of life.

In this book, Cathy and Clay tell the story of our military veterans and service personnel who have risked everything, often with devastating results. Some come home with little else but their fearsome and daunting challenges. They need our help. Pairing them up with a service dog is often the answer.

Service dogs, like their ultimate partners, dont just happen. There are incredible levels of sacrifice, selfless love, determination, and friendship involved. From the fund-raisers and donors to the breeder-caretakers, from the puppy raisers to the volunteer staff and professional trainersthis is an overwhelming commitment and solemn responsibility, all undertaken with unconditional honor. Although service dogs are able to perform a phenomenal number of physical tasks that are of incalculable value, thats the easy part. What they do emotionally is beyond description.

Lance is now the proud teammate of a second-generation service dog named Auggie. His first dog, Satine, who did her job masterfully, has since passed on. Her ashes are buried at the base of a beautiful Buddha fig tree in my familys backyard. The heart-shaped leaves are a direct reflection of the magnitude of Satinesand Lanceslove of life.

Never think for a moment that its easy to tell these wonderful stories. For those who struggle with disabilities and challenges, it takes all they have just to stay on the beat.

Whether its Auggie or Satine, and other service canines like them, or my own service dog, Cortez, there is no way to assign a value to what they do for us. This is because, at the end of the day, our service dogs make us happy. And thats the best place to startas well as finishjust about anything.