Font ResizeOn Friday, Sarha Shaubach made the hour-long drive from her Wasilla, Alaska, home to the Anchorage airport by herself.
The winding road between the mountains carries too strong a reminder of convoys through Afghanistan for her husband, John Shaubach, a veteran suffering from a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder.
But Sarha brought her husband's hunting jacket with her.
When she reached the kennel crate, Sarha put the jacket against the door. The bone-thin black Lab inside sniffed the jacket and jumped.
Zeus knew he was almost home.
Three weeks ago, Rick Saunders was parked on the side of the road in Southern Pines, N.C., when a black Lab trotted over.
He had a mangy coat, Saunders said in a telephone interview, and his ribs stuck out. It was clear he had been living outdoors for quite a long time. After failing to find the dog's owner, Saunders took it to the vet.
That's how Saunders learned a previous owner had implanted a chip in the dog's neck. The veterinarian didn't have a current address or phone number for that owner, John Shaubach.
After a Google search, Saunders found a news story about John's service and difficulties. Southern Pines is near Ft. Bragg, home of the 82nd Airborne, Saunders thought. After a few phone calls, the Shaubachs had a message waiting for them.
Sarha woke John up from his nap.
"Did you have a dog
Yes, he said. Is he dead?
No, Sarha replied. A man in North Carolina found him. He wants to know if you want him back.
John had been in and out of PTSD treatment programs since October 2005. By January of this year, he was despondent. He had made progress at a South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs' facility in June, but he still had a long way to go in recovery.
He said his experience dealing
with the VA had remained largely unchanged: low-level staffers make mistakes, their bosses apologize, new plans are formed, but rarely followed.
When Sarha said his Zeus was alive, his face lit up. That week in counseling, he talked about Zeus so much, his counselors had to tell him when the session was up, a rarity for a man of few words.
Saunders and his wife, Angela, took Zeus to a dog spa for a little pampering.
As they walked around town, people wanted to know where the Lab came from.
"He's entirely love starved," Saunders said. "You can't be around the dog and not have him jump on you. He's sweet as pie and strong as an ox."
They bought Zeus a kennel crate for the flight. Thursday night, Saunders drove to his parents' home in Raleigh, so Zeus would be ready for his 5:30 a.m. flight.
On the way home to Wasilla, Sarha bought Zeus five cheesburgers and a large order of fries.
He devoured them in seconds. Then he started to crawl on Sarha as she drove. He slurped at her face and then licked a pearl earring right out of her ear.
John took Zeus in his hands and almost cried.
Even at 85 pounds, he was so small. John had given him to another soldier before deploying to Afghanistan. Before John returned, Zeus ran away.
After a few minutes, Sarha said, John got up and mixed Zeus a bowl of food with salmon oil. For the time being, John said, every meal Zeus eats will include salmon, salmon oil and an egg. He needs to grow.
Zeus will spend the next several weeks adjusting to life in Alaska and the family's other five dogs, Sarha said.
Sarha has been worried John's condition will worsen as Alaska's long, dark winter settles in, when her husband won't be able to go duck hunting or take long walks in the woods.
She still is.
But Sarha hopes reconnecting with his old friend will give her husband a renewed sense of purpose. And hope.
John is already talking about finding a registered female black Lab, so Zeus' line can live on.
"In a lot of ways, this is therapy for him," Sarha said.
jfrantz@ydr.com; 771-2062
AT A GLANCE
John Shaubach served 22 years in the Army with the 82nd Airborne Division. He led men in combat in both Iraq and Afghanistan, earning a purple heart and a bronze star.
Now retired and living in Alaska, Shaubach is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and the effects of a traumatic brain injury. He has repeatedly had difficulty receiving the care he requires from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The York Daily Record/Sunday News wrote about Shaubach in June, after his sister, Melissa Gieniec, a dental assistant in Springettsbury Township, went to visit him.
According to the VA, Shaubach is one of more than 75,000 veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan to receive treatment for PTSD at either a VA medical facility or a Vet Center.
You can read the previous story about him at in our veterans and military affairs special section.
