| Testimonials Continued |
| Spencer D. Spencer served in Vietnam from Februrary 1968 to January 1969, this is his story: Shack was my only dog. He was killed in an ambush on our last mission. The dogs did not come home. They were retrained to another handler. When we left Vietnam, they were left or put down. Out of about 4,000 dogs, only of couple hundred came home. I was in the 9th Infantry with a unit called the 43rd Infantry Platoon Scout Dogs. I volunteered to work with scout dogs because I had an Uncle that worked with dogs in World War II. I was wounded in the ambush that killed Shack and spent nine months in the hospital. I still have 70% disability from those wounds. When I got back to the States, I finished college and worked as a therapist in VA hospitals. The memories are many. When you eat, sleep, and live with a dog, they become a very close friend. The hardest thing for handlers leaving their dogs behind. There were so many good and funny memories with Shack. Very few days go by that I don't think of him. |
| Wayne O. Wayne served in Vietnam beginning January 1971, this is his story: I arrived in Nam in January 1971. I was wounded in November 1972 and left Nam 23 months later. I served mostly in Na Trang, Da Nang, and Saigon. I spent most of my time in Special Forces camps along the Laos and Cambodia border, around areas called, Fish Hook and Parrots Beak. In Nam, I only had one dog, Devil. When I was wounded in November 1972, Devil was killed by the morter that hit me. I grew up training greyhounds. I read about the dog training program in the military, so I enlisted. I have to take medication in the morning and in the evening to help me forget the stuff we did, the people we killed, and the friends I lost. One memory I have is, once Devil was working up ahead of us on a patrol and he suddenly came running back to us with a tiger right on his ass. We were all just stunned for a second, then we realized that Devil was leading the tiger right to us so we all opened up. Of course we all missed and the tiger ran off into the jungle. Devil stood behind me and peeked around my leg in the direction the tiger went. It was really comical. |