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Dog with Wings
The old sergeant was leading his men in a house to house search for terrorists and bomb makers. Their area of operation had become a hot spot for IEDs and the sergeant had had enough. In his opinion the terrorists were being disrespectful of him and his platoon by even operating in an area under their control. He planned on putting a stop to it.
It was hot, dirty and dangerous work, going house to house not knowing what to expect. And their job was made all the more dangerous because dog was not with them and this was where he did his best work. Dog was in the “International Zone,” the old Green Zone, getting his yearly physical.
As dusk started to fall the sergeant reminded his men that this was the most dangerous time of day. Shifting shadows and poor vision made them vulnerable.
As the goon squad started into another house small arms fire broke out. As usual, the 1st squad did not back out of the house but continued inside, one or two coming in the windows. As the sergeant tried to follow them inside he was met with a hail of gunfire. The first squad had taken the first floor but was taking fire from the stairway leading to the rest of the building.
The sergeant backed out of the door firing his carbine as he went. He immediately headed for the building next door, taking the stairs three steps at a time until he was on the roof. Without stopping he made the jump between buildings and hit the roof where his men were trapped down stairs. He smashed the door leading into the building with his shoulder and took the Muj by surprise. In 10 seconds it was all over in a hail of carbine fire. Ten terrorists were on their way to met Allah.
“Hey girls! I’m coming down and if anyone shoots me I will be VERY pissed off,” the old sergeant yelled as he started down the stairs. As the sergeant made his way down the 2nd and 3rd squads finally arrived. But there was not much to do. The fighting was over.
“Well, nice of the others squads to join us. Where you ladies been, the powder room?”
“Aww Pappy. We just stopped for a burger and fries. You know it’s passed supper time,” one of the 3rd squad answered.
The sergeant just grunted as he motioned everyone out.
Several hundred miles away, Dog was getting more and more impatient. Military regulations required that every canine on active duty have a yearly physical exam but the vet doing the examination was beginning to think this dog might be an exception. It was the biggest meanest dog the vet had ever seen.
The vet would not even approach Dog until he had given him a sedative. After Dog had fallen asleep the vet moved him from a cage to a table removing the muzzle at the same time. It took two people to lift this dog.
As the vet started to listen to the dog’s heart he noticed something strange. The heartbeat, instead of being slower because of the sedative, was still beating fast and getting faster. The vet was not a stupid man and as he yelled a warning for everyone to step back, dog was up in a heartbeat and racing toward the exit.
The vet looked at his assistants and shook his head. “Before you all say anything, I gave that animal enough sedative to knock out a horse. And no I have never seen anything like this but I think it is safe to say that animal has passed his physical. And I would imagine he will find his way home. Now if you will excuse me, I need a drink.”
As Dog raced out of the building he had only one thought and that was to get back to his pack and to the man. As he was running down the street he heard a familiar sound and veered off to the right and straight onto the tarmac of the heli pad in the zone. Sure enough, Dog recognized a man that was part of his extended pack.
Cowboy was just getting ready to lift off on a supply mission when something landed inside his old Huey. In seconds he felt hot breath on his neck and when he turned around he almost had a heart attack. Right behind him, teeth barred, was the biggest animal he had ever seen. And he did not look happy. All the crew members had frozen on the spot and were staring in amazement.
Seconds passed and Cowboy relaxed. “Dog, you scared the HELL out of me. You ever do that again and I will toss you out of this bird at 5000 feet! And don’t get so close. You’re slobbering all over me and you have Muj breath. And put a helmet on.”
His crew had never seen dog before and thought Cowboy was crazy as he reached back and rubbed the dogs head. Dog allowed it.
Cowboy laughed. “Don’t give it another thought men. This is the old sergeant’s friend. And any friend of Pappy is a friend of ours. The only question is, why is Dog here by himself and where is Pappy?”
Dog growled low in his throat. A low rumbling sound that could be heard over the sound of the chopper blades.
“Hey, ok, ok! Let’s see what we can find out,” Cowboy said as he reached for the radio.
The old sergeant and his platoon were still trying desperately to clear out their AO. It was almost dark now and the men were seeing the enemy behind every corner. Off in the distance he heard a familiar whoop whoop that sounded like an old Huey. Naw, Pappy thought. Cowboy has to be a hundred miles from here.
On board the Huey cowboy was faced with a dilemma. Cowboy did not know exactly where Pappy was even though Headquarters had told him the platoon was operating in this area. And Dog was becoming more and more excited pacing back and forth in the chopper.
Cowboy could not contact the sergeant because he did not have the frequencies so he did the next best thing. “Dog, you’re going to have to help me find him. When I fly close you let me know and I will drop down close enough for you to jump out.”
Dog barred his teeth so cowboy figured they understood each other. And sure enough as they circled around a group of building dog licked Cowboy on the ear and before he could be stopped he had jumped out of the crew chiefs door.
“Dog!” Cowboy screamed, but it was far too late. Oh no. He thought. If I have killed Dog I’m dead. I know Pappy will kill me. And I can’t believe he would survive a jump from this height.
Looking out his window he was relieved to see that Dog had landed on the top of a building some 20 feet below. Knowing there was nothing he could do now he banked the old Huey back on course for the supply mission.
The old sergeant had just started to interview a group of young men they had cornered in a house when a black and brown streak of lightning flashed passed him and struck one of the men in the throat. As the terrorist brought up his hands to try to defend himself he dropped a grenade he had been hiding. Lucky for everyone the grenade had not been armed.
The terrorist was not so lucky though. He lay in a pool of blood, his throat torn open.
It took a second to register with Pappy what had happened. “Dog! Where in the world did you come from?” It was then that he remembered the sound of the old Huey.
“Aw, ok. Guess you found a friend to bring you home, right boy?”
Dog just barred his teeth. Pappy gave the dog a pat and looked up into the night sky.
“A flying dog. Well. I hope you flew first class!”
By:
Steve Newton
Write Pappy at:
Copyright 2006
RETURN TO
DOG WITH WINGS
by
Steven J. Newton
All content property of Steven J. Newton and
The Silver Star Families of America Copyright 2005-2007
Like it?
Why don't you toss a coin or two this way to help honor our wounded?
We'll buy some banners and give to 'em--- so they know we ain't forgot what
they did for us.
Thank ya---
Pappy
