Making The Difference w/ Robert Macpherson

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How A Marine’s Service Dog Made The Difference

About The Episode

Robert Macpherson was born and raised in Pittsburgh. In his senior year of high school, he decided to sign up for the Marines – which led to thirty years in the service. After retiring from the military, he also ended up working with CARE, an international humanitarian organization fighting global poverty and world hunger. For fifteen years he led their emergency response program in war-torn places like Bosnia and Rwanda.

With all that time around war or disaster, it was not an easy transition for Robert to come back to "normal life." Nor was it easy for Robert to acknowledge, accept his PTSD and take action to fix it.

Eventually, Robert went to get help at the VA and was seeing a therapist and that helped his mental health. However, he still felt there was something missing from his healing process. When a fellow veteran told him he was planning to get a service dog, Robert started to consider the idea more seriously. He had been visiting his sister in Florida and came across the Southeastern Guide Dogs organization and made a visit. He was very impressed by their campus and facilities. They help train dogs both for the blind, children with challenges, and veterans in need.

Robert thought back to his love for dogs throughout his life, particularly of Labradors, and how much comfort the one he had during his time in the military had brought him whenever he came home. Robert decided to apply to Southeastern Guide Dogs for a service dog. After a rigorous application process, he was accepted and participated in several training programs. When the time came at that point for an introduction to his dog, he waited inside a room and this huge dog came barreling towards him filled with joy and literally knocked him off his seat. That dog, Blue, made Robert immediately feel that everything would be ok going forward.

Blue did turn out to make things ok again, he was a true difference-maker. For example, Robert began to feel more comfortable going out in public again, because Blue could use his big frame to position himself between other humans when he senses Robert needs space. Arguably most important of all, however, was helping Robert with the night terrors that would happen while he was sleeping. Without even being trained to do so, this dog right away began pinning his weight against Robert's chest and arms and then licking his face to wake him up while limiting his movement, keeping him calm.

The impact of a service dog has helped Robert in other areas of life, too. As a writer, his latest book honoring the humanitarians he worked with over the years – Stewards of Humanity: Lighting the Darkness in Humanitarian Crisis – was only possible because of having Blue by his side in the process. Whether it was providing comfort in the difficulty of recounting these painful scenarios or getting him to take a break and throw the ball outside, Blue was there to help ease the emotional writing process. And now, to pay it back, Robert is in the midst of writing a book about the amazing work of service dogs.

About The Guest - Robert Macpherson

Robert Macpherson is a writer based in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his service dog, Blue, and his wife. He served in the U.S. Marines as an aid worker and career infantry officer – earning multiple awards of valor – with service in Vietnam, Iraq, and Somalia. Following that, he led humanitarian response missions worldwide for fifteen years at the humanitarian organization CARE. His debut book, Stewards of Humanity: Lighting the Darkness in Humanitarian Crisis, is out now.

Featured Links

InterviewJack SommerMental Health, Authors, Service Dogs