Service Members & Veterans

TRANSCRIPT
Clarissa Black Video
Merrill Lynch Wealth Management

Please see important information at the end of this program

GRAPHIC TITLE: (white type over black background)
Sometimes, one person with a vision
Can help the lives of many

Lower third:

Blade Anthony
Corpsman,USMC
Iraq War Veteran

Graphic subtitle appearing in lower portion of the frame: According to a 2013 Department of Veterans Affairs report

BLADE ANTHONY:
There’s 22 people who are gonna die today. Twenty-two of my brothers and sisters that are gonna take their own life because they can’t deal with stuff. And I was almost one of those. Had it not been for Clarissa and her organization and my dog, DeDe.

CLARISSA BLACK:
Every year approximately four million animals are being euthanized in shelters across the country.

2nd Graphic subtitle:
According to SPCA statistics

Lower Third:

Clarissa Black Founder, Pets for Vets And Merrill Lynch Client

CLARISSA BLACK:
And so that inspired me to think, why can’t I find the right shelter dog to help these veterans with what it is that they’re going through.

MATT DUPUIS:
Watching Clarissa Black start this organization from scratch and seeing the immediate impact she’s had on individual’s lives is contagious. And there’s no doubt in my mind that we’re going to look back in a very short amount of time and Pets for Vets will be a household name.

CLARISSA BLACK:
Pets for Vets is a nonprofit organization that matches shelter dogs to returning veterans to help them with post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, anxiety, depression.

CLARISSA BLACK:
We actually really get to know our veterans. What it is that they’re looking for, what they need. Then we go out and we find a dog that’s gonna fit seamlessly into their life.

And on top of that we actually provide each of the dog’s training to help them fit with that particular veterans’ PTSD.

BLADE ANTHONY:
When I used to get really mad (De De) would come up to me and then it would make me less mad. I would calm down. When I would cry or be afraid she would be there to make me not cry any more. Feel better.

CLARISSA BLACK:
Working with Blade I discovered that he really had not had a good night’s sleep in, since he had returned home.

So we trained DeDe to actually recognize wrestling and moaning of a nightmare in order to wake Blade up at night and because of that it actually started to reduce the number of nightmares that he had and he was able to get a good night’s sleep.

BLADE ANTHONY: I really mean what I say that I just can't stand being away from her.

ADAM RENTERIA:
Before I’d gotten Rakkasan I wanted a much bigger dog I come from that type of, that warrior mentality. I wanted a warrior-type dog.

CLARISSA BLACK:
And that feeling of having this very large dog, I didn’t think was going to help him in what he told us he was looking for.

ADAM RENTERIA:
I was looking for a void to be filled rather than a process to be healed. And so Clarissa through the assessment, through her evaluation, understood this.

B-roll – Adam and Clarissa at the fountain – “I’m in sync with him as much as he’s in sync with me.”

Adam, Clarissa and Rakkasan walking together

CLARISSA BLACK:
After the, the match our veterans actually become part of our Pets for Vets family. And I think that’s really important also// for healing with PTSD is feeling you’re part of a community.

CLARISSA BLACK:
It’s just incredible the community that we have built not only as a Pets for Vets family but all the volunteers giving their time because they believe in Pets for Vets but they also want to help veterans and help rescue animals.

FA, MATT DUPUIS:
Clarissa and Pets for Vets have chapters in 19 states and I don’t think she’s going to stop until she has all 50 states.

I surely hope that most people have the opportunity to do something like this in life and to look back and say you did something bigger than yourself and you made a difference

BLADE ANTHONY:
When Pets for Vets rescued De De, she was pretty bad off. She had scars on her face like I do. So, she probably has PTSD like I do.

BLADE ANTHONY: And now, we’re together… healing both together.

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15-006A

Don Chandler: My name is Don Chandler. I served 22 years in the United States Army. I did three tours in Iraq. I wanted to follow in I guess family footsteps..from my grandparents, my uncles, my dad..all served in the military. So, I wanted to give back to my country.

Nancy Chandler: He has earned two purple hearts. He’s got a bronze star with valor, another bronze star.

Don Chandler: I’d do it again. I’d do it all again. I grew up with my father. He did not want me to go through the things that he had gone through when he came home from Vietnam. I had come home from Iraq and it was very overwhelming.

Nancy Chandler: We do have five children. We have 10 grandchildren. We were literally living payday to payday. There was just never that opportunity to be able to save for a down payment.

Casey Kinser: Our mission is to support our nation’s wounded heroes as their transitioning out of the military and into their new civilian life and that’s a difficult transition for many. We’re seeing a lot of veterans being separated from the military and they’ve got a lot of significant needs, especially housing, which is a focus of ours.

John Stein: Today what we’re gathered around is to give away a home to a military veteran and his wife and family. Its particularly poignant because this is the 1000th house that Bank of America has given back to the community. Welcome Sergeant First Class Don Chandler, his wife Gail, their kids and grandkids into a mortgage free home.

Don Chandler: Just walking through that front door and seeing her face light up, you know, there’s just no words, there’s no price tag you can put on that. She has been the foundation for me for many a years. She’s just as much a part of my career as I was. She’s the backbone of it.

Gail Chandler: Everything that they incorporated..it’s us..every little detail, it was just perfect.
Lewis Runnion: To see the looks on the family’s face and to talk to them about how this home will change their lives is an amazing experience.

Casey Kinser: The relationship that Military Warriors Support Foundation has with Bank of America is incredible. We could not do this without their help.

Nancy Chandler: We would have never been able to afford it on our own. It allows people like us that second chance.

Don Chandler: It’s home. It’s a place we can see our grandkids grow up and create memories with them. I love it.

Let’s go home.

BANK OF AMERICA
Bank of America Support Services – Revised June 2107
DALLAS BASS LEGACY RE-EDIT 2017 - As Produced Video Transcript

Jeff Cathey: I spent 29 years in the military – my father was there, my brother was there, my other brother was there, my sister were there.

Frederick Robinson: Four people have served in the military in my immediate family. Going back, my great grandfather, I have an uncle, two cousins, and myself.

Monica Gupta: I’m the first one in my family to serve. Hopefully I get to start my own tradition of military service.

Melissa Bentley: My grandfather was in World War 2, my father was in Vietnam and so I think I always grew up with the respect for the military.

Monica Gupta: I received this bronze star medal at the end of my tour in Iraq in support of Operation New Dawn. For me, this just represented a year in which I was mentally…umm…physically and in a way spiritually tested. But you learn, you adapt, and you overcome. I would do it again if, ya know, they wanted volunteers to serve overseas in support of our country. I would do it in a heartbeat.

Jeff Cathey: Bank of America has got a long and proud tradition of support in the military. We’ve been there for over 90 years. Starting at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. We believe it’s our obligation to support the reintegration of the veterans – whether it’s critical needs, housing, jobs, whatever it takes to get the citizen soldier back into the civilian workforce.

Monica Gupta: Bank of America recognizes the skillsets that veterans bring is a value and they see that and so I’m really grateful to be part of that – it’s amazing. END