Mattapoisett resident Sara Garde had always wanted a Great Dane, but she never expected to have one given to her, nor could she have imagined the circumstances that would bring her and Redd the Great Dane together.
Garde is an Army veteran. Two years after graduating from high school in June 1996, she enlisted in the Army. She told us her service didn’t end there.
“After September 11, 2001, I was recalled to serve and joined the Army Reserve Unit, 3d COSCOM (Corps Support Command.) Our unit deployed to Kuwait in November 2002 and after the ground offensive in Baghdad (May 2003), convoyed to LSA Anaconda (Balad, Iraq.) As a truck driver (88M), I would drive my superior officers to Baghdad through the Sunni Triangle every Sunday to brief the general on the status of the base and redeployment activities. Our unit returned to the states in June of 2004.”
Garde said that during one trip, her convoy hit an improvised explosive device (IED.) Miraculously – no one was injured. Garde’s deployment was a long one that found her in some of the most dangerous places in the Middle East. And yet after eight years of service and duty, this soldier wasn’t ready to completely quit. Garde returned to the Army.
“After 2004 when I got out of the Army, I enlisted in the Air Force Reserves from 2009 to 2016. I was a member of the 439th Aeromedical Support Squadron (ASTS) as a technical sergeant (TSgt/E-6.) In June 2012, I was deployed to Ramstein(-Miesenbach), Germany for six months in support of combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. I was attached to the 86th CASF (Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility) Medical Group, which received the wounded from the combat zones, transported them to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center for stabilization, then would return them to the flight line for transport to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.”
But coming home for Garde also meant adjusting to civilian life, a challenge for nearly all veterans of combat. In other times, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was called “battle fatigue” or “shell shock.” Thankfully, today there is a much better understanding of what can be a permanent state of discomfort, anger, depression and an inability to transition into a normal homelife.
Garde shared, “I found coming home, reintegrating, a challenge.” She said she finds public spaces disconcerting and that she had become an aggressive driver. Getting behind the wheel, she has found in and of itself to bring on anxiety.
Enter a dog.
James and Vicky Randall’s Great Dane had given birth to 12 healthy pups. One of the first things the family decided to do was donate a pup to a veteran. As James Randall said with quiet recognition of the important step they were taking, “We wanted to give back.”
Enter Tri-Town Veterans Agent Chris Gerrior who, together with Randall, discussed how to go about announcing to the local communities that a puppy, a rather large puppy, was available to a veteran for adoption. Gerrior reached out to us to place a press release encouraging interested veterans to write in.
After reading the press release that detailed the opportunity and how to go about advancing one’s name into the adoption pool, Garde sent in her letter to Gerrior and was ultimately selected to take Redd home.
Redd stands for “Remember Every Dog Deployed.” His presence in Garde’s life has been as immense as the breed itself is known. “Gentle giants,” Randall said.
“It was love at first sight,” Garde stated with a chuckle, and it also turned out that Redd was a belated Christmas present. “I got him three days after Christmas 2021,” she said.
Since that time, Garde and Redd have been learning the ins and outs of dog training, a service donated by a nearby company.
“With Redd, I feel responsible for his well-being while driving so he helps me with that. He provides comfort, including with the nightmares. He helps me to focus less on personal dangers. He gives me patience,” said Garde, who had opened her home and her heart to this Great Dane. “He is big and goofy and makes me laugh every day. … I am so grateful for what James and Vicky have done.”
As for Redd, well, he couldn’t agree more.
What a wonderful story with a so happy ending for all❤️