‘Four-legged warrior’: Pittsburgh-area Vietnam veteran remembers dog that was by his side during war
Bill Jeffcoat is currently the president of Life Changing Service Dogs For Veterans
AGAIN, THAT’S TOMORROW. ONLY. ONLY ON FOR THIS VETERANS DAY MORNING. A VIETNAM VETERAN AND K-9 HANDLER, REMEMBERING THE BOND HE HAD WITH HIS MILITARY DOG ALL THOSE DECADES AGO. I SAT DOWN WITH BILL JEFFCOAT FOR A RECENT EPISODE OF FOR THE RECORD, AND THIS MORNING HE SHARES THE STORY OF THE DOG, WHO HE SAYS IS THE REASON HE’S STILL WALKING THE EARTH TODAY. I TRULY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT A DOG WAS GOING TO DO FOR ME. WE INTRODUCED YOU TO BILL JEFFCOAT DURING A RECENT EPISODE OF FOR THE RECORD, HE’S THE PRESIDENT OF LIFE CHANGING SERVICE DOGS FOR VETERANS, AN ORGANIZATION THAT HELPS PROVIDE SERVICE DOGS TO VETERANS IN NEED. IN INTERVIEWING JEFFCOAT, I LEARNED OF HIS OWN STORY AS A K-9 HANDLER IN VIETNAM AND THE BOND HE HAD WITH HIS DOG DURING THAT TIME, FRAULINE YOU KNOW, THIS DOG WAS WITH ME 24 OVER SEVEN WHEN IT WAS TIME FOR US TO HAVE A DRINK. I WOULD TAKE MY HELMET OFF, POUR WATER INTO THE HELMET, AND LET FRAULEIN DRINK FIRST. AND WHAT WAS LEFT OVER WAS FOR ME. YOU KNOW, THERE WERE EVENINGS THAT YOU LAID IN A JUNGLE, LOOKING UP AT THE STARS, WONDERING, YOU KNOW, WHAT AM I DOING HERE? AND HERE COMES THIS FOUR LEGGED WARRIOR. AND SHE PUTS HER HEAD ON MY CHEST, JEFFCOAT SAYING HE EVEN FOUGHT TO TAKE THE GERMAN SHEPHERD BACK HOME WITH HIM. VIETNAM WAS WAS A CRAZY. SITUATION. WE WE WERE OVERRUN. 2 OR 3 DIFFERENT TIMES. AND PROBABLY THE SADDEST PART WAS THAT I HAD FINISHED MY FIRST TOUR IN VIETNAM AND EXTENDED FOR A SECOND TOUR AND FOUR MONTHS LATER THEY STARTED TO DEESCALATE AND I WAS TOLD THAT THEY WERE GOING TO SEND ME BACK TO THE WORLD. SO I WENT INTO COMMAND AND I OFFERED THEM $5,000 TO BRING FRAULEIN HOME WITH ME. THAT REQUEST WAS DENIED, AND WHAT HAPPENED NEXT WAS TRULY HEARTBREAKING. THE DAY BEFORE I LEFT VIETNAM, ONE OF THE OTHER HANDLERS CAME AND SAID THE VET WANTED TO SEE FRAULEIN, SO I WENT DOWN TO KENNEL, GOT FRAULEIN, WENT INTO THE VETS AND THEY TOLD ME THEY WERE GOING TO PUT HER DOWN. WHY? SO THEY GAVE ME FIVE MINUTES ALONE, CAME IN, EUTHANIZED HER, AND SHE DIED IN MY ARMS. BUT HE TELLS ME THE MEMORIES OF THAT DOG WHO WAS BY HIS SIDE ARE STILL ALIVE TODAY. I TELL EVERYBODY I HAD A GIRLFRIEND IN VIETNAM, BUT SHE HAD FOUR LEGS AND HER NAME WAS FRAULEIN FOUR X TEN. AND WHETHER WE WERE WALKING POINT ON PATROL DOING SEARCH AND DESTROYS, SETTING AMBUSHES, RUNNING THREE MAN KILLER TEAMS, GATHERING INTEL WITH RECON OR JUST WALKING THE PERIMETER. FRAULEIN WAS MY LIFELINE. AND I WALKED THIS EARTH BECAUSE OF A DOG. WOW. AND IF YOU SCAN THE QR CODE YOU SEE ON YOUR SCREEN RIGHT NOW, YOU CAN SEE MORE OF BILL JEFFCOAT’S STORY FROM THIS PAST WEEKEND’S EDITION OF. FOR THE RECORD. SO AN APPROPRIATE DAY TO SHARE HIS STORY ALL THESE YEARS LATER, YOU CAN SEE WHY EVERYONE IN THE NEWSROOM IS CRYING WHEN THEY WATCH THE EDITED VERSION OF YOUR STORY. I DIDN’T THAT TOOK AN UNEXPECTED TWIST THAT FOUR DECADES LATER, THAT ANIMAL STILL HAS THE POWER OVER HIM AND THAT ALL THAT LOVE INSIDE OF HIM. AND THAT’S WHY HE FOUNDED THE SERVICE DOG PROGRAM RIGHT NOW TO HELP OTHER VETERANS AND KNOWS THE IMPORTANCE OF WHAT A DOG CAN DO. AND IT SAVED HIS LIFE. AND YOU UNDERSTAND ONCE AGAIN, THE THOUGHT OF THAT BOND BETWEEN A DOG AND A HUMAN BEING, THE REINFORCEMENT OF THAT TOLD IN THAT STORY THERE. GLAD WE COULD SHARE THIS INCREDIBLY SAD.
‘Four-legged warrior’: Pittsburgh-area Vietnam veteran remembers dog that was by his side during war
Bill Jeffcoat is currently the president of Life Changing Service Dogs For Veterans
Updated: 5:15 AM EST Nov 11, 2025
This Veterans Day week, Bill Jeffcoat, the president of Life Changing Service Dogs For Veterans, is looking back at his time serving in Vietnam and the dog who was by his side during the war.”I truly didn’t know what a dog was willing to do for me,” Jeffcoat told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 anchor Michelle Wright while recalling the dog Fraulein. Jeffcoat said Fraulein was with him 24/7 while he served in Vietnam.”There were evenings that you playing in a jungle, looking up at the stars, wondering ‘what am I doing here?’ And here comes this four-legged warrior, and she puts her head on my chest,” he said.When Jeffcoat was told he’d be sent back to the world from Vietnam, he said he offered his command $5,000 to take Fraulein home but that request was denied.”The day before I left Vietnam, one of the other handlers came and said, the vet wanted to see Fraulein,” Jeffcoat said. “Fraulein went into the vet, and they told me they were going to put her down. So they gave me five minutes alone, came in, euthanized her, and she died in my arms.”Despite that tragic ending, Jeffcoat said Fraulein is the reason he’s alive today.”Frauline was my lifeline,” he said. “And I walked this earth because of the dog.”
PITTSBURGH —
This Veterans Day week, Bill Jeffcoat, the president of Life Changing Service Dogs For Veterans, is looking back at his time serving in Vietnam and the dog who was by his side during the war.
“I truly didn’t know what a dog was willing to do for me,” Jeffcoat told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 anchor Michelle Wright while recalling the dog Fraulein.
Jeffcoat said Fraulein was with him 24/7 while he served in Vietnam.
“There were evenings that you playing in a jungle, looking up at the stars, wondering ‘what am I doing here?’ And here comes this four-legged warrior, and she puts her head on my chest,” he said.
When Jeffcoat was told he’d be sent back to the world from Vietnam, he said he offered his command $5,000 to take Fraulein home but that request was denied.
“The day before I left Vietnam, one of the other handlers came and said, the vet wanted to see Fraulein,” Jeffcoat said. “Fraulein went into the vet, and they told me they were going to put her down. So they gave me five minutes alone, came in, euthanized her, and she died in my arms.”
Despite that tragic ending, Jeffcoat said Fraulein is the reason he’s alive today.
“Frauline was my lifeline,” he said. “And I walked this earth because of the dog.”