By Curt Hendel
Veteran Writer
As we get closer to the conclusion of the Veteran’s Honors Pages, I have to take one more opportunity to celebrate some of the less conventional veterans out there, the K9 veteran. Each of these veterans served closely with me, some at the end of their careers.
We have come to recognize their Veteran’s Day as March 13th, K9 Veteran’s Day. This year will commemorate 77 years since the official beginning of the Military Working Dog Program. Since then, the pride, heroism, and unconditional service of these four legged veterans has saved countless lives, uncountable amounts of money in protected resources, and has given so many two legged veterans a reason to be proud.
I worked with four dogs during the handler portion of my career. The dogs I trained in Dog Training Section were so numerous I remember only a few, but those in the field certainly had a huge impact on me and my career.
It began in Patrol Dog School. The future handlers that I trained with worked hard to make it in to the school, as had I, and we were the elite of Military Police. We were to be K9. I fully expected to be teamed up with the baddest of the bad training dogs. After all, I was strong, had a big voice, and was imposing by this time in my life. But instead of an aggressive machine, I was introduced to Valley, a 9 year old German Shepherd, all of 67 pounds and as gentle as a child. There were no physical battles to come, I couldn’t impose myself on her, and my voice was useless. The instructors wanted me to prove that I could build this little female up, not have to tear her down. In the end, she would teach me so much about being a true handler, one that could build a dog up and help them to excel, without manhandling them.
When I arrived in Osan, South Korea, my job was to patrol the perimeter of the base with my dog during the hours of darkness. My first partner was an old, small framed German Shepherd named Rex C058. Rex was old and his body was not what it used to be, but he hated Korean Nationals. I was never sure what it was about them, but Rex would go nuts when he was close to them. He could certainly put up a fight against intruders, but the fight would be short lived….
After a couple of months I was upgraded to Thor P247 (The Wonder Dog). I called him that because he was still in physical shape, but had mentally checked out. Thor was retired from active duty. He was so bad that he would go on an attack run and stop half way to relieve himself! We worked with Thor to improve him. He bit only one person in our three months, and that was ME! Thor didn’t like to work much!
Then came “That Dog”. Most Military Working Dog Handlers will have one dog during their career that is “That Dog”. That Dog is the one that they will remember until the day they die, the dog that they will cry about for decades, and the one they will always miss.
Ero 245J was “That Dog” to me. I loved Valley, Rex, and Thor, and they taught me much, but Ero became a part of me. He was one of over 25 new dogs that had come to Osan right out of training. My Kennel Master gave me first choice of a new dog, because my first two had been a struggle and I had been there for five months out of a 12 month tour. When I saw Ero it was over. He was tall, gangly, underweight, immature – a total nightmare, but I saw something in him others didn’t. My Kennel Master told me I was an idiot, that I would have to continue to work extra hard just to make a capable dog of him, that I should choose more wisely, but I stuck to my guns.
For four months that dog was very weak in everything and even was a bit of an unruly cuss, but finally he settled in to be a great Military Working Dog and partner. So great was he, that when a last minute opportunity came for me to stay at Osan for another tour, I jumped at it. I just couldn’t leave That Dog.
We had a great second year. Our bond was as good as it could get – Ero had become a part of me. He was an extension of all of me, not a piece of equipment to be operated at a high level, but as much of a partner as any human could ever be. We even performed with the section demonstration team.
My last month in the country was terrible. I broke my ankle on post and ended up in a kennel support role. When a new handler came in and needed a dog, Ero was assigned to him. He was a great handler, don’t get me wrong, but my heart was broken.
A couple years later, I was talking to one of the Squad Leaders that had come to my base for supervisor training. I asked him about Ero 245J, and he told me Ero was overweight, didn’t get out of his kennel much, and didn’t work well any more. I was shocked and asked what terrible dog handler was Ero’s current handler and he exclaimed, “I am! I don’t have time to work him. I am a Squad Leader.” I almost lost a couple of stripes that day, and had it not been for my true K9 brothers on Team Two, I am certain bad things would have happened to that guy.
To K9 handlers and trainers, former and current, K9 Veteran’s Day means alot of different things. To me, it celebrates all of the dogs that have ever served in our military. From the World War II dogs that, for the most part were returned to their original owners; to the thousands of Vietnam War Dogs that were abandoned as excess equipment after the war; to the dogs of my era that were euthanized with little fanfare when they could no longer work and today’s four legged heroes that are retired to good homes when they are too old to work. They have all earned a day to be respected just as our human veterans.
Rarely do I think of all of the dogs, including those I trained in Dog Training Section, without feeling a sense of loss. Somehow I feel like I let them down, even though I know that shedding an after the war tear is just what Old Dawgs and Young Dawgs do when we think of our partners….
