Gulf War Vet Says American Legion Denied Entry to Her Service Dog

After a U.S. Army veteran's service dog was denied entry to a local American Legion post, the dog's owner told Newsweek that she's on a mission to see the nonprofit group's national bylaws changed and "end discrimination against those with invisible disabilities."

Dee Pilkons, 68, of Fort Myers, Florida, told Newsweek in a phone interview on Monday that her service dog, a 2-year-old yellow Labrador retriever named Beth, is her "lifeline" in coping with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and hearing loss that she sustained during her military service.

"This isn't right," she said. "It's going to happen to somebody else and somebody that hasn't got the strength or the ability to fight. I'm fighting for the veterans that are injured and aren't able to fight for themselves."

Pilkons said she received Beth after the pair graduated in June from America's VetDogs, a New York-based organization that trains and places service and guide dogs for those who are blind or have low vision, physical disabilities or PTSD. For more than 20 years, VetDogs has been aiming to help those who have served in the U.S. military to "live with dignity and independence," at no cost to the recipient, according to the group's website.

The Gulf War veteran, who described Beth as her "prosthesis with four feet," told Newsweek that she wants to ensure no other veteran faces the discrimination that she said she felt when her service dog wasn't allowed inside American Legion Post 274 in Fort Myers on October 24.

"The American Legion was founded by a congressional act as a not-for-profit organization to help veterans represent veterans," Pilkons said. "What in the heck is a service organization that represents veterans throwing a veteran out because they have a service dog. What about a blind person?"

Newsweek reached out via email and phone on Monday to American Legion Post 274 and representatives for the national organization for comment.

Bruce E. Comer, the adjunct of the American Legion Department of Florida, sent Newsweek a statement on Thursday regarding the incident, saying that the department is asking all Florida Posts to review their policies to ensure all veterans are welcome.

"The American Legion Department of Florida, Inc. has always provided an atmosphere of welcoming all veterans into our ranks and facilities, including those veterans who require service animals to lead healthy, productive lives," the statement reads. "The American Legion Department of Florida fully supports the Americans with Disabilities Act and is communicating with all Florida Posts and asking that they review their policies to enhance our ability, as a veteran service organization, to welcome all veterans into the ranks of The American Legion. The Department of Florida recognizes the medical necessity of service animals and the significant advances in utilizing service animals in treating many of the physical and psychological injuries received on the battlefield and here at home."

Pilkons said she joined the Army in 1985 and while she planned to serve at least 20 years, she said was honorably discharged in 1991 because of an incident that caused "severe" hearing loss.

"The reason that I have my dog is she is a hearing dog, a sensory dog," she said. "I was shot in the leg in the arms room at Fort Dix by a blank and the reverberation around the room caused severe hearing loss for me."

She said Beth has helped improve her quality of life with the hearing loss, by performing daily tasks such as alerting Pilkons to people calling her name or her phone ringing, and by providing support as she lives with PTSD from her active duty.

Pilkons said she and her husband have been members of Post 274 for more than four years and never had an issue until Beth was barred last month.

" I wasn't even three feet in the door when the post commander jumped up from the bar, approached me and said, 'You can't come in here. We don't like dogs.' And I told him she's a service dog but he said I wasn't welcome with a dog."

She said she called the commander afterward, as well as state American Legion officials, but was told that because American Legion posts are "private clubs," they are not bound to requirements set under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Pilkons said this allows the Fort Myers post to implement its own rules and policies, which she wants to see changed at the national level.

"I really feel that I have to represent the disabled community because this is wrong," Pilkons said. "I'm representing other people that have invisible disabilities by standing up for this issue with the American Legion and it needs to be written into the national American Legion bylaws that service dogs are allowed at all posts."

Pilkons said she wants people to remember that service dogs are not pets but rather "crutches, wheelchairs, eyes and ears for people who need them."

"We are veterans, and we are a family," she said. "This guy, this American Legion post is excluding anybody that has a service dog from being a part of that veteran family."

Update 11/11/2023, 11:15 p.m. ET: This article was updated with a statement from the American Legion Department of Florida.