TV Review: Dogs of War (A&E)

On Tuesday night, my son's Scout Troop group celebrated Veterans Day.  We discovered that one scout is the great-nephew of  Paul Wiedorfer, recipient of the Medal of Honor for his valor on Christmas Day, 1944, during the Battle of Bulge.   The scout brought several articles about Mr. Wiedorfer, including an interview,

"Wouldn't it be wonderful if the Medal of Honor didn't exist because there were no wars and we could all live in peace? And that the only way to spell war was love? Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

After the Scout meeting, I settled in front of the TV to watch the PBS special for Veterans Day, NAVY SEALS - THEIR UNTOLD STORY (link).  This two hour program drew me into the world of the Navy SEALs for which I am grateful of their service.

As I was watching PBS, I missed the debut of A&E's DOGS OF WAR, but I caught the rebroadcast on Friday night (link).  It is a reality show featuring Paws and Stripes (link), 

Paws and Stripes provides service dogs for military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.​​  We help veterans so they can live the full and rich lives they deserve.

This is not your average reality show with self absorbed twenty somethings.  This is a poignant look at how a veterinary's assistant discovered her husband, suffering from PTSD, could heal with a rescued dog.  The couple, Lindsey and Jim Stanek, founded Paws and Stripes to put into action the only way forward is together.   The hour long show opened with Jim training two candidate dogs from the local shelter.  The program then jumps to an Army veteran in his home town, struggling to cope with his shell shock.  His wife comments he'd rather have lost a limb than his mind.   The producer quietly captures this veteran's private struggle while surrounded by his family.  No big budget movie could convey this heartwrenching scenario with the same level of intensity as DOGS OF WAR. Tears trickled down my cheeks.

Yet DOGS OF WAR does not want us to pity these veterans. They deserve our compassion ... compassion that they find in selecting and training their own therapy dog.   DOGS OF WAR demonstrates we can live in peace, as Paul Wiedorfer suggested, along side our canine friends.

This is must see TV to understand that war is hell but there is hope.  Watch the season premiere at this link.  Join DOGS OF WAR for its regular time slot on Sundays, 10 pm EST, on A&E.

Contribute to this effort at this link, including signing up for Amazon Smile at this link.

Check out my pictures of meeting recipients of the Medal of Honor in Hawaii at this link.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Air Force Veteran

Military personnel and furry friend on Dog Beach
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii