.png)
Vietnam Veteran Charles Service Partners with Freedom Dogs and Service Dog Chance
Vietnam veteran Charles Service grew up in Napa Valley, California, and came home from two years in Vietnam with wounds that did not stay on the battlefield. Today a yellow Lab named Chance walks beside him. Freedom Dogs paired the two in 2022 and the partnership has given Charlie a reason to get back out in the world.
Charlie has described his job in Vietnam as a machine gunner. He came home wounded but did not get help right away. For years the war stayed buried. Betty, his wife, has said that for the first half of their marriage he never talked about his experiences in Vietnam. She knew he had served and that he had been wounded but never knew exactly what he was carrying.
PTSD got harder as he got older. Crowds were difficult and he needed his back to the wall, always searching for the nearest exit. The hardest part of coming home, he has said, was not only the combat. It was what waited on the other side of it.
The biggest challenge returning from the Vietnam War was being treated so badly by society. Dealing with combat related PTSD was difficult and people's reactions to us made it devastating.
He is also a double cancer survivor. Both cancers, he has said, were a result of exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam.
A referral, a phone call, and Chance
In January 2022, a mental health provider at the Veterans Health Administration gave Charlie a list of service dog organizations. He called Freedom Dogs and talked with Mike, who walked him through the process. He met founder Beth Russell, RN, at the initial interview and shortly after started attending weekly training classes.
Freedom Dogs is my lifeline. They have turned my life around and have become my family. My whole life is better because of them. - Charlie Service
Seven months after beginning at Freedom Dogs, Charlie was paired with Chance. Charlie has said Chance has been a godsend. The dog helped him mellow out, manage his emotions, and be around people again. The nightmares eased and Betty could see it from the closest seat in the house.
Chance has just opened his heart to places I never knew it could go. He's like a different person. - Betty Service
Charlie credits Chance and Freedom Dogs with changing the way he looks at life. There are no negative waves in this organization, he has said. Everything is positive, both the people and the training. People may not know you when you come in the door but they will still give you a hug. Those are the kind of things, he said, that veterans like him need.
Watch Charlie, Betty, and Chance tell it in their own words.
On the course with Chance
Golf is part of the partnership. Charlie's bucket list includes a round at Pebble Beach. He and Chance have been a familiar pair each year at the Freedom Dogs Golf Classic. Chance has gone from chasing golf balls and squirrels around the course to working the day as Charlie's caddy.
He was back on that course for the 13th Annual Golf Classic on March 23, 2026, photographed with Steve Behrendt. Chance sat at his side in a working vest. The classic is also the Freedom Dogs family reunion, the day graduates, dogs, trainers, and staff come back together.
Away from the course, Sedona is his favorite place to travel, and he would like to see Egypt someday. He listens to the Village People and Journey. He likes Chicago P.D. His favorite movie is She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.
What a Freedom Dog is
Freedom Dogs, founded in 2006 by Beth Russell, RN, provides custom-trained specialty service dogs at no cost to active-duty service members and veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and related wounds of war. The organization keeps the only formal ongoing partnership of its kind with the Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Battalion-West at Camp Pendleton. Dogs begin training at about eight weeks and spend about two years learning tasks that include PTSD alerts, deep pressure therapy, nightmare interruption, crowd barriers, item retrieval, and bracing support.
These are not emotional support animals or therapy dogs. They are trained partners, matched to the warrior. Through the Partner Program, a dog and trainer team works with a warrior for about nine months. The Partner for Life Program places the dog permanently when that level of support is needed. Charlie's path ran through that same door.
Charlie's story sits beside other Freedom Dogs partnerships, including Gunnery Sergeant Jake Taylor and Freedom Dog Tobin, Vietnam Navy veteran Mushroom Montoya and Yazzie, and Marine veteran Bobby Hensley and Frankie. Learn more about how the programs work on What We Do.
Freedom Dogs remains a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Tax ID 43-2106405, dedicated to speeding recovery and enhancing the lives of wounded military heroes through the life-changing bond of specialty-trained service dogs. Puppy raisers, recurring donors, and community partners make pairings like Charlie and Chance possible.
On November 14, 2026, Freedom Dogs will celebrate twenty years with A Light in the Dark at SeaWorld San Diego. Details are live on the 20th Anniversary event page. Those who want to put food in a bowl, a vest on a young dog, or another warrior on a training team can give at freedomdogs.org/donate.
A longer profile of Charlie, including the ten things he shared about his life, is at GB Magazine. The interview above is on the Freedom Dogs YouTube channel.
Charlie once kept the war inside because he did not believe people could conceive what he and his brothers had gone through to get home. Chance does not let him walk that road alone. When the two of them come through the door, the room already knows his name.
Comments