by Mark E Andersen
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Mark Bush, 386th
Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron military working dog handler,
gets affectionately licked by his dog, Xarius, June 3, 2014 at an
undisclosed location in Southwest Asia.
Two years ago when I attended a reunion of my old Desert Storm-era Army
unit, Co. B 326th Engineer Battalion, 101st Airborne Division, we were
looking at where our old barracks once stood. The old cockroach-infested
buildings had been torn down to make way for the new buildings now
under construction. One of my fellow veterans who worked in construction
on post told us the story that did not leave a dry eye amongst us, even
with our hardened veteran hearts.
The story goes like this: The day demolition was to start, the
military police (MPs) received a man at the front gate. He was in tears,
and he had driven all night to get to Ft. Campbell before demolition of
the 326th barracks began. He had to find the remains of the dog he went
to Vietnam with, came home with, and buried at Ft. Campbell, before the
demolition began. The MPs got him to the site of the barracks, the
civilian construction workers stopped working, and they searched the
battalion area for the remains of his dog. They never did find the
remains—either his memory was faulty about where the remains were or too
much earth had already been moved during construction.
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