Photo by Al Nowak/On Location Studios
From Combat to Campus
The Marist College Student Veterans Organization helps veterans make the transition from service member to student
“Can you help me get my dog?”
That was the simple question 26-year-old Matthew Plumeri, a Marist College student and United States Marine Corps combat veteran, asked at a meeting of Marist College’s Student Veterans Organization in October 2014.
The answer, it turned out, was yes.
Plumeri had spent two years with Gulliver, the Vizsla assigned to him in 2011 following graduation from Specialized Search Dog Training School, where working dog handlers and their K9 counterparts learn to detect explosives off-leash. Plumeri and Gulliver had trained together at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, CA, and then served together in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan.
Throughout the seven-month deployment, Plumeri and Gulliver were together 24/7, whether running missions, training, or trying to wind down with their unit after a stressful day.
Plumeri, a psychology major from rural Clinton Corners, NY, 13 miles northeast of Marist College in Poughkeepsie, would later write eloquently of his experience with Gulliver.
“It’s a strange feeling, entrusting your life to a dog. This notion is even stranger when the realization sets in that there is also responsibility for the other 15 to 20 Marines on patrol whose lives depend on you and your K9.”
“Gulliver kept me safe for the entire seven months we were deployed. No one who walked behind us on any patrol that Gulliver and I led was ever injured, let alone killed, by an IED.”
Toward the end of their deployment, Plumeri noticed signs of ill health and post-traumatic stress disorder in Gulliver, and when they returned to Camp Pendleton in December 2013, he began exploring the process of adopting a military working dog. However, the Marine Corps did not agree that Gulliver should retire. When Plumeri’s five-year contract with the Marines expired in June 2014, he went home to New York alone.
“Leaving Gulliver behind was one of the toughest challenges I had ever faced in the Marine Corps and was ironically the one for which I had no training,” Plumeri wrote.
Plumeri began classes at Marist in fall 2014 and waited for news. In October 2014, it came: he got the call saying Gulliver would soon be retired. The adoption fell into place as he had hoped.
However, now Plumeri had another challenge. He did not want Gulliver to be flown from Camp Pendleton to New York in a kennel crate in the cargo area of a plane. But traveling with him in the cabin would mean two expensive plane tickets. There was also the matter of a flight to California for Plumeri, a rental car, and a motel room.
Gulliver’s Travels
The goal of the Marist Student Veterans Organization is to advocate for Marist student veterans during their transition from military to civilian student life. So Plumeri approached the group in search of some support.
The MSVO decided to raise money for the travel expenses. On an October day in 2014, Plumeri met in the Marist library with MSVO’s president, Britany Diesing, who will graduate this December, and Marist alumnus Owen Daly, both also Marine Corps veterans. They set up a Facebook account and a GoFundMe site. It was on the site that Plumeri described at length his bond with Gulliver.
Their initial goal was to raise $3,000. In less than a month the campaign brought in nearly $10,000.
“It was pretty overwhelming,” Diesing recalls.
The MSVO also raised money through sales of Marist Fox Company hoodies and T shirts sold at Marist events including Veterans Day ceremonies, a Marist vs. Army basketball game, and the Music Department’s Red, White, and Blue concert. And President Dennis J. Murray sent a campus-wide email to raise awareness about the fundraising effort.
In January 2015, Plumeri flew to San Diego and brought Gulliver to his family’s home in Clinton Corners. Plumeri now reports that Gulliver’s medication for osteoarthritis and muscle atrophy has had positive results. Gulliver gets along well with the other three dogs at the Plumeri home, where he has the run of five acres and a pool and stream to swim in.
“My entire family loves him like he has been here all along,” Plumeri says. “He is beyond spoiled now, and he truly has the retirement that he deserves more than anything.” The remaining money from the fundraising effort will go toward long-term care for Gulliver, including food and veterinary bills.
Photo by Al Nowak/On Location Studios
Service and Support
The campaign to bring Gulliver home was the highest-profile project of several the MSVO has undertaken during the past year. Active members, who include Plumeri as vice president, Bradley Hunt as treasurer, and Bob Roberts, also planned a Veterans Day flag-raising and luncheon in 2014 featuring Marist alumnus Capt. Paul X. Rinn, USN (ret.) as keynote speaker. The event drew more than 80 alumni, students, staff, family members, and friends. The group also held a food drive and has begun volunteering at the VA hospital at Castle Point in Wappingers Falls, NY.
As president, Diesing, who is from Wappingers Falls, represents MSVO frequently. She spoke about the group at an Open House Weekend panel for adult students and worked with Marist’s Financial Aid and Admissions offices to develop informational brochures for veterans. She communicates frequently on the group’s Facebook page and iLearn site. As far as membership, the number fluctuates. The iLearn site has 150 participants on its roster, including staff and alumni who help the organization. Marist’s Office of the Registrar reports that 59 veterans used the GI Bill during the spring 2015 semester, and 89 the previous semester.
At a recent meeting, Diesing asked the handful of veterans present how things were going. She also encouraged everyone to explore a program directed by American Corporate Partners that offers career mentoring for transitioning military. Diesing herself participated in a veterans immersion program offered by ACP at Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show, a seven-week “boot camp” to help veterans enter the TV industry. A political science major, she is serving internships this summer with both Fox News and New York Sen. Chuck Schumer’s Hudson Valley regional office.
MSVO collaborates with Marist administrators to help student veterans navigate the terrain of financial aid and enrollment. Staff members from Marist’s offices of the Registrar and Admissions attend the group’s meetings in case anyone has a question. The College Activities office is always ready to help with setting up MSVO apparel sales at campus events, Diesing says, and Career Services with editing résumés.
“You don’t really know where you fit into it,” Diesing says of entering the world of academia as a veteran. The group’s mission is “to be a welcoming community, a place they can call home here on campus.”
Plumeri has nothing but praise for the MSVO. “I will always be grateful to them, Marist, and President Murray for helping make this reunion with Gulliver and myself possible. It’s something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.”
