"Dog helps Haverhill veteran, fallen serviceman’s family, heal" by Katie Johnston | Globe Staff, July 01, 2012
LEXINGTON, N.C. — Two years after returning to Massachusetts from Iraq, the worst memories of her combat experience began to resurface for Natasha Young-Alicea: Five dead Marines, killed while dismantling unexploded bombs; the bloody gear she collected for disposal; the personal belongings that she sorted, packed, and returned to grieving families.
Nightmares, migraines, and anxiety attacks followed. The 31-year-old became increasingly isolated and depressed. She withdrew from family and friends. “I went from this bubbly, flowery woman to this lukewarm . . .,’’ the retired staff sergeant began, her voice trailing off. “I felt like a visitor in my own life.”
Eight hundred miles away, in this central North Carolina community, Samuel and Evelyn Harris faced their own dark memories of a beautiful, late summer afternoon in 2008 when a chaplain and four Navy SEALs drove up to their home and told them their youngest son, Joshua, a 36-year old SEAL, had drowned during an operation in Afghanistan.
“There are days,” said Evelyn Harris, “I don’t think I’m going to make it.”
Like thousands of Americans during more than a decade of war, the Harrises and Young-Alicea lived separately in their sorrow. They sought comfort from family and friends, advice from counselors, and solace in their community. They fought despair, and prayed for strength. They hoped to find some sort of peace.
And eventually they would, with the help of an unexpected friend — a two-year-old golden retriever — and, ultimately, each other....
Yup, another great war story success!
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