Veterans of Dyess: Clay Luthy

Photo By Staff Sgt. Emily Copeland | U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Clay Luthy (Sep.), a veteran loadmaster for the C-130E and C-130H, served four years at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas after the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001. Luthy separated the Air Force after his first enlistment and became a voice for veterans and service dogs after being hired by Lowe’s with his own service dog, Charlotte. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Emily Copeland)  

DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, TX, UNITED STATES

07.31.2017

Story by Airman 1st Class Emily Copeland 

7th Bomb Wing

Airman 1st Class (Sep.) Clay Luthy made the decision to join the world’s greatest Air Force after the tragedy of September 11, 2001, where he began his four-year career as a C-130E and H model loadmaster at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.
While flying across the world and through dozens of countries, Luthy picked up multiple skills such as hand-calculating proper weight distribution, providing essential airdrops for humanitarian and combat missions, and ensuring everything and everyone is secure on flights all over the world.
Luthy was medically separated after his first enlistment, but stayed in Abilene, Texas near Dyess AFB.
After separating, Luthy added a new member to his family, a golden retriever named Charlotte. Charlotte was just a normal dog, but was destined for more than just being a pet. She began alerting Luthy during his medical spells and proved herself to be the perfect service dog.
Since becoming certified as a service dog, Charlotte has stood beside Luthy through everything.
“Having Charlotte around has made getting around much easier,” said Luthy. “I don’t have to worry about not being able to do the daily things such as working or traveling by myself.”
With having a service dog, jobs can be hard to come by. Luthy had applied for Lowe’s, with one stipulation, Charlotte would be hired too. After no time at all, Lowe’s hired both Luthy and Charlotte as customer service employees.
“Lowe’s didn’t think twice about allowing Charlotte to be with me,” said Luthy. “They treated her just like another applicant.”
Luthy and Charlotte fell right into the flow of things at work and attention soon fell onto the pair as a customer took a picture of Luthy with Charlotte sitting at his feet and quickly posted the snapshot to social media.
Almost immediately, Luthy and Charlotte fell into the limelight with thousands of shares on their posted photo. Luthy and Charlotte became the voice for veterans and service dogs everywhere. Since his photo was shared, at least two veterans and their service dogs have been hired by Lowe’s.
Luthy uses his story in hope that veterans and service dogs everywhere would receive the same opportunities he and Charlotte were given.
Luthy and Charlotte can be found in Abilene, Texas where he still works at Lowe’s and currently trains Lola, his 11-month-old golden retriever, to become his new service dog after Charlotte retires.

• Date Taken: 07.31.2017
• Date Posted: 07.31.2017 16:37
• Story ID: 243212
• Location: DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, TX, US