Marine Campaigns to Get Service Dogs for Veterans with PTSD

Cole Lyle, who had spent most of 2011 as a marine in Afghanistan, had decided to quit opiate pills cold-turkey. Lyle had been diagnosed with PTSD after returning from Afghanistan, and his use of sleeping pills and anti-depressants was going into an addiction, but after seeing several of his fellow marines commit suicide, he decided to turn a new leaf.

Military veteran Cole Lyle, who suffers with PTSD, and his dog Kaya, waits in the hallway of the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, April 14, 2016, prior to testifying before the House National Security subcommittee hearing on "Connecting Veterans with PTSD with Service Dogs." AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Cole Lyle, who had spent most of 2011 as a marine in Afghanistan, had decided to quit opiate pills cold-turkey. 

Lyle had been diagnosed with PTSD after returning from Afghanistan, and his use of sleeping pills and antidepressants was sliding into an addiction—but after seeing several of his fellow marines commit suicide, he decided to turn a new leaf. 

Service dogs will save lives, and with the current epidemic of veteran suicides, it's unconscionable to keep the status quo.

— Cole Lyle, marine veteran