[Hawk]

This is in honor of all the Wardogs that served and those that gave their lives to protect not only their masters, but the troops that served with them. One story I read about was about a dog who when a handgrenade was thrown into the midst of several GIs in Vietnam, the dog grabbed the grenade and took off running away from his master until it blew up.......

http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/0603/hawk7173/wardogs.jpg

 

[MsgtMaze]

I want to second that Hawk. I've read some amazing stories of these brave soldiers. I just hope the stories I've heard of us leaving them behind in Vietnam aren't true?

Greg

 

[Hawk]

Unfortunately I believe some of the dogs were left behind in Vietnam. however as far as what I've read, more dogs died of illness related to a bad diet of cheap dry dogfood than did in action. The dogfood that Uncle Sam bought was of course cheap and not healthy enough to sustain the dogs while working in the extreme heat.

 

[duckbuck]

A friend and fellow teacher dropped by my office the other day to shoot the breeze. He was a dog handler in the "Nam. He told me that the government was concerned that the dogs would pick up some strange, exotic diseases that they didn't have treatments for, so they couldn't bring them back to the States.

He told me that as far as he knew, all the dogs were left in-country and "put down" because there was too much risk to bring them back home.

I know he loved the dogs he handled there, but he told me a funny story about one of his favorite pals. Said his first dog was 9 years old and anything but aggressive. He told me that as long as he had him, the only that the dog attacked was a turtle - but the turtle was a "confirmed VC".

Said he cried a little when he rotated home, because he knew what was going to be the fate of his "buddies".

duckbuck

 

[pbiggs]

When I was at Ft. Benning GA. there was a museum there and one section documented the 101st AB doing jumps with dogs in harnesses. Also documented was the bounty put on the dogs adn their handlers by the north. I like the Idea of the airborne pooch! I wonder if they participated in the 5 mile "motivational runs".

There is nothing like a good pooch where ever you are.


Phil

 

[djl4570]

Unfortunately I believe some of the dogs were left behind in Vietnam. however as far as what I've read, more dogs died of illness related to a bad diet of cheap dry dogfood than did in action. The dogfood that Uncle Sam bought was of course cheap and not healthy enough to sustain the dogs while working in the extreme heat.

Back in those days before Iams and Science Diet most of the pet foods contained a lot of ash and other garbage that was bad for the animals. The dogs were left behind because of quarantine issues. One soldier who had to leave his dog lamented that the dog had no future there because its color was considered bad luck by the Vietnamese (Can't remember if it was black or white).

Another dog was working with his handler and unit in an area where ambushes were common, the dog stopped and when the handler tried to move forward the dog grabbed his arm with his mouth and growled softly. The handler looked closely ahead, barely six inches in front of him was a tripwire. Everybody in the unit took a special interest in protecting the dog after that.

It's about time for THC to rerun the program on war dogs.

 

[SlowShooter]

Didn't see it mentioned above: I saw what looked like a great book on handlers and dogs in Vietnam in the book store recently. Sorry, can't remember the title, but it was in the Vietnam history section. I was torn on whether to get it or not. I have 2 great dogs and love them, but just skimming the book, the fate of most if not all the dogs in Vietnam was evident. Seemed too depressing for me as I'm a softy when it comes to dogs.