Ledyard -- Ryan Landry spent a year in Afghanistan with the U.S. 2nd Cavalry Division during his eight years on active military duty, and the transition to civilian life was far from easy.

He was unemployed for more than half a year after leaving the military, finally latching on as an officer in the Norwich Police Department, where he has spent the last decade. But the 37-year-old former sergeant in the National Guard knows how difficult it is to go from military to civilian life and how long it takes for people with post-traumatic stress disorder to recover.

“Regaining a purpose is difficult,” Landry said. “There’s a lack of brotherhood.”

So once the disabled veteran had regained his own physical and mental footing, he decided to help his brothers in arms by starting Everlasting Veteran, a Ledyard-based organization that has given away five service dogs to veterans so far this year. He also has a podcast that tackles veteran issues.

But it’s the service-dog giveaways that have earned the most attention, including a Dec. 7 piece on the local NBC news affiliate in Connecticut that highlighted the meeting between Ledyard veteran John Leckie and his new puppy, Floki. At the event, held at Veterans Rally Point in Norwich, Landry received a Quilt of Valor for his work from a national nonprofit dedicated to aiding military veterans.

It was a complete surprise, bestowed on him by Kevin Brown, a former colonel in the U.S. Army and former chairman of the Mohegan Tribe.

“It’s quite an honor,” Landry said. “I wasn’t expecting it at all.”

Landry said the Mohegans have been quite supportive of his work, and he was invited to give a speech and give away two dogs during the opening ceremony of Vets Rock, a Veterans Day event at the tribe’s casino. Among the recipients was veteran Jerry Beacroft of Baltic.

Landry developed his dog-giveaway program in partnership with his brother-in-law, former Uncasville resident Ron Narine, who now runs a dog-breeding business in South Carolina. The first dog, provided by Narine, went to a veteran in North Carolina, but all subsequent canines have been provided to local former military men, thanks to Landry’s accidental meeting with Teresa Smith, who runs the Voluntown-based Meadow Ridge dog breeding business with her husband Tom. They have become big supporters by donating dogs to Everlasting Veteran.

“Dogs have that special ability to be able to look at whatever you’ve got going and just filter those emotions into them,” Landry said in explaining why he chose to start the dog-companion matchmaking service for veterans. “On a bad day, they’re able to take all that bad emotion out.”

Landry said people returning from the military with PTSD can feel like they are still involved in a combat zone, and are often hypervigilant about their environment, causing a general feeling of unease. These feelings can be exacerbated when vets fail to find employment, a common occurrence that has led to surging rates of veteran homelessness nationwide.

Veterans also face high rates of suicide, going back to the lack of purpose that Landry says is a key to his dog-companion giveaways. So Landry set up the dog-giveaway part of Everlasting Veteran to encourage veterans to train their own PTSD service dogs using in-house instructors his organization provides remotely, free of charge. Eventually, these dogs will be certified as service animals, giving veterans a sense of accomplish while also keeping them busy with the training.

“We make it convenient,” Landry told me. “It occupies their time and gets their mind off loose thoughts ... of possible suicide.”

Right now, Everlastic Veterans is set up as a limited liability company, as Landry takes sponsorships for his podcast (see everlastingveteran.com for information). He is planning to set up another side of the business, Everlasting Veterans Foundation, next year as a nonprofit to be able to accept donations of dogs, money and perhaps even food (for dogs and humans) to help veterans. The organization may also wind up helping the homeless.

“That’s a bigger thing than I’m doing right now,” he said over the phone.

Landry said he’s always taking requests for dogs, and there is a vetting process to acquire one. Having stable finances and housing are two of the requirements.

So far, dogs handed off are not the ones you might expect, but Landry says that’s by design. French and English bulldogs were the first to be donated, and then great Danes and weimaraners, offering a variety of sizes that could be matched to each veteran. Landry said the next dog offerings will be Labradors and golden retrievers.

“The VA (Veterans Administration) system is overwhelmed,” Landry said, with more than 200,000 military personnel being discharged every year. “We have not yet seen the changes these wars have caused to our veteran community.”

Thanks to Landry and those like him, the help many of our men and women returning from war zones need is now being filled by compassionate people who have gone through the same thing and know that a friendly hand, or paw, can go a long way.

Lee Howard is The Day’s business editor. To reach him, email l.howard@theday.com.