Eyes that see the good in things: Oct. 28, 2019

Yesterday, a Facebook meme made me smile and think of my dog. Along with a picture of a dog’s greying muzzle were the words that said, “I love the energy of little puppies, but there is just something special about the sweet face of an old dog.”

Yes, the meme made me think about my current dog, our German Shepherd-Labrador mix but I got a little nostalgic and started reminiscing about the old dogs of my youth. My favorite was a gentle, yet protective German Shepherd named Christy.  

One of my favorite stories about her was the time my younger brother toddled out of the house, in search of my dad. We lived in a very small town where there wasn’t much traffic, so a neighbor watched as the dog followed the little neighbor boy out of the yard and down the road.  

As the story goes, every time a car came close, Christy would give my brother a shove-- just hard enough to send him rolling down the ditch. By the time he was able to pull himself back up to the road again, the car had gone by and the danger was gone. If not, he’d get another gentle shove.

Some of Christy’s siblings were sent to Vietnam, to be used in the war. I found a story about Vietnam war dogs on a website called Charlie Company about a very special veteran, an 85-pound German Shepherd named Nemo. Nemo was a war hero. He was one of the first, and unfortunately one of the few, Vietnam war dogs to be return home to the United States.

Nemo looked like a classic German Shepherd. When he was a little over a year old, he was purchased by the military and he entered eight weeks of sentry dog training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

In January of 1966, Nemo’s left ear was tattooed with serial number A534 and he was sent into active duty— one of the first military dogs to go to Vietnam.

His first handler was Airman Leonard Bryant, Jr. They were assigned to patrol the 377th Air Police Squadron at the Tan Son Nhut base, near Saigon. Nemo, and fellow 377th Squadron dog soldiers Rebel, Cubby and Toby, became the first line of defense in case of an attack from the Vietcong. The dogs, together with their handlers, spent the night alone in their particular area of the base, patrolling the perimeters. The dogs were trained to be the first to detect trouble, training that prepared them to alert their handler and to maintain silence while they investigated further, and the humans sent for backup.

Nemo received a new handler in 22-year-old Airman 2nd Class Robert Thorneburg. He and Nemo were reported to make an excellent team. This was put to the test on an early December night in 1966, when they began their patrol. Two Vietcong units tried to infiltrate the base. The military dogs got the word out, and when the battle was over, three Airmen and their team member dogs (Rebel, Cubby and Toby) were dead.

The following night, Dec. 4, Thorneburg and his partner Nemo were on duty near a graveyard next to the base runways. They knew there could be remaining Vietcong who remained from the previous night, waiting to attack again under the cover of darkness. Early in the shift, Nemo sensed something. His hair stood on end and he warned Thorneburg, but before the soldier could radio for help, gunfire erupted, and four Vietcong attacked. Thorneburg was shot in the shoulder and Nemo was hit in his face, under his right eye. Nemo was not going down without a fight. He lunged at the enemies, allowing Thorneburg time to call for backup. While waiting for help to arrive, 85-pound Nemo, bleeding but loyal, crawled across the body of his partner, guarding him from further harm.

Before the battle was over, two Vietcong were killed and the others “handled,” according to the official report. Thorneburg said a painful goodbye to his faithful partner before he was rushed to a nearby hospital. Nemo was taken to a vet, who performed emergency care and did skin grafts on the dog’s face. Unfortunately, Nemo’s right eye could not be saved. Both of them recovered.

In early 1967, Nemo was returned to Lackland Air Base in Texas where he was given a special kennel area on the base and spent time as a recruitment dog, encouraging the use of canines in battle. Nemo lived until 1972 and was given a burial on the grounds of the bas. His story doesn’t end there.

In 2003, a group of retired Military Working Dog Handlers met for a reunion at Lackland. They knew of Nemo’s legacy and wanted to see his former kennel. Unfortunately, only crumbling borders and a barren pad remained. Current military personnel were unaware of Nemo’s significance. The retirees formed “Nemo’s War Dog Heroes Association” and raised funds to refurbish the dog’s kennel to a place of appropriate stature.

Today, the kennel has been restored and a memorial stone explains the story of Serial Number A534,. Sadly, Nemo was one of only 200 of the 4,000 dogs who served in the Vietnam War that returned home after the war.

Between the years of 1964 and 1973, the United States deployed an estimated 4,000 war dogs to help defend South Vietnam from invasion. During this time, German Shepherds were trained as scout dogs to alert on enemy movement, booby traps, land mines, base camps, underground tunnel complexes, and underground caches of weapons, food and medical supplies.

German Shepherds were also used as sentry and patrol dogs, like Nemo. They were very effective in defending aircraft, airfields, supply depots, ammunition dumps, defensive perimeters, and many other strategic military facilities throughout South Vietnam. Sentry dog teams were deployed as the first line of defense guarding American base camps day and night.

They were also used as mine and tunnel dogs, trained to sniff out mines and booby traps buried in roads, hidden on bridges or in buildings, and sniff out the location of tunnels. After the dog located the tunnel, a soldier would enter the tunnel to investigate.

The Labrador retriever dog was the only breed trained for tracking. Their primary role was to track the enemy’s scent throughout South Vietnam, so that larger American forces could re-engage. Labs were friendly and had a natural instinct for tracking ground scent. It also took less time for a Lab to get used to a new handler.

The success of the war dogs and handlers ultimately reduced the enemy’s capacity for surprise attacks. As a result, the enemy placed a price tag on the heads of the war dog teams and hunted them.

Some of the surviving dogs who did not return were euthanized, or they were classified as equipment and left in Vietnam. The handlers and other veterans continued to fight for the rights of war dogs, pushing for legislation to create a program for their adoption. President Clinton signed that legislation into law in 2000, ensuring that dogs now serving in the United States military will have a home when they have finished their battlefield jobs.