TunnelRat

The old sergeant was sitting at his make shift desk trying to complete an after action report when his phone rang. Growling he picked up the receiver and gave his usual grunt of acknowledgement.

“This better be good,” he said into the phone.

“Sergeant, this is the Captain in charge of the Marine Company operating along the border with Syria. We have found some tunnels running under the border and we need some help. The canine kind of help. We would like to borrow your dog for some underground work.”

“Hum.” The old sergeant said. “Stand by a minute Captain and I will ask.” He turned to the killing machine

that some called a dog. He was sitting in the corner licking himself.

“Dog? You want to loan out a few days to help the Marines?”

A low rumbling growl issued forth from deep with in the biggest most dangerous dog the sergeant had ever known.

“Hey, fine. Don’t get smart with me. A simple no would have worked.”

Picking up the phone the sergeant said, “I’m sorry Captain but the sergeant says he is not interested.”

Silence on the other end of the line. Finally: “Look sergeant, I have already talked with your commanding officer. My request was a courtesy. You may now consider it an order.”

“Hold on a second Captain.”

“Dog. The Captain says it’s an order. Will you consider going now?”

This time dog just barred his teeth.

Sighing the old sergeant picked the phone back up.

“Captain, I’m afraid the answer is still no. Yes, I understand that. But you have to understand that Dog is---------well he is not quite up to following the chain of command.”

The old sergeant listened for a minute and finally sat the phone down again.

“Ok Dog. How about if you and I BOTH went to help our poor Marine buddies? You might even get to eat a few terrorists.”

This time the dog was on his feet licking his teeth.

The sergeant picked the phone back up.

“Captain? When would you like us there?”

The next day the old sergeant and Dog arrived at the Forward Operating Base of the United States Marines, courtesy of Cowboy and his antique Huey. They were met by a very angry Marine Captain.

“Sergeant, if you were in my division I would have you up on charges. You are insubordinate, disrespectful and worst of all insane. You treat that animal like he was a human being.”

Dog slowly walked over to the Marine Captain and proceeded to urinate on his boots, which sent the Captain into a rage which quickly turned to silence when dog barred his teeth.

The old sergeant took out his trusty Zippo and lit a cigar. “Well, Captain I guess it’s lucky we are NOT in your division. Now, if you need our help lets proceed with the briefing so we can get on with helping YOUR men.”

Fuming the Captain motioned the old sergeant to follow him to the command post. The old sergeant smiled to himself as he saw the sand sticking to the Captains wet boots. Inside was more brass than the sergeant had seen in a long time. Majors, Lt. Colonels and even a full bird. As they proceeded inside the Captain stopped and said, “Sergeant the dog has to stay outside.”

His eyes turning steely the old sergeant said, “Sir, you have finally succeeded in getting me angry. You ask for our help, then you order our help and now you don’t want the dog that is going to risk his life for you in the briefing. Now, if you don’t get out of the way, SIR, I am going to kick your ass.”

Before the Captain could even respond, from the back of the room a voice spoke up. “Ha. I would know that voice anywhere. Captain, please stand down. Pappy, you old coot, come on in and bring Sergeant Dog with you.”

When Pappy’s eyes adjusted to the light he saw an old friend of his who just happened to be the commanding officer of this Marine division.

“Hello, General,” The sergeant said shaking hands. "And I may be old, Sir, but I still can out shoot and out fight any of YOUR Marines.”

The General laughed. “Pappy of that I have no doubt. Come on in son." He turned, "I want you all to meet a true National asset. I call him Pappy, but I would strongly advise all of you to just call him Sergeant.”

As they all introduced their selves they finally got down to business.

“Pappy, we have a ------- situation here. The Syrians have apparently allowed the terrorists to build a tunnel under the border. And not just any tunnel. Sergeant, this thing is big enough to drive a duce and a half through. They must have been running people and equipment through here for a long time and it has to be a major conduit for them.

“Our problem is this. We are not at war with the Syrians, although I would just as soon get it over with. I have a feeling that they are the REAL culprits here. But anyway we cannot simply blow up the place for fear of killing 'innocent' Syrian Nationals. And our second problem is that the place is booby trap heaven. All you have to do is throw a rock down the tunnel and you get some very rude surprises. The only solution that comes to mind is to send a well trained canine down the tunnel with a GPS unit so we can map the place.

“I would like your opinion, Pappy.”

The old sergeant looked at the map and Dog even stood on his back legs to sniff at it.

“General. I have a question of my own. What is our mission? To map the tunnel or to stop the flow of manpower and equipment for the enemy?”

The General took a second to respond. “Pappy, you know we must stop this infiltration. But we cannot legitimately do so without causing an international incident. Do you read me?” The General said with a wink.

“Of course, sir. Dog, what do you think?”

Dog barred his teeth and sat down.

“Ok General. We will be on our way now.”

Chaos erupted as the brass started to yell back and forth. “General surely you can’t just let this man walk off with a 15 minute briefing and expect him to accomplish anything. He will be dead in an hour and-------------.”

The General held up his hand for silence. “What do you need Pappy?”

The old sergeant grinned and patted Dog on the head. “Well, Sir, just a general kit and oh, let’s see, twenty-five pounds of C-4.”

An hour later, weighted down like a pack mule, the old sergeant and Dog entered the well camouflaged tunnel entrance that ran directly to Syria. As soon as they cleared the entrance, Pappy sat down took out some water and gave some to Dog.

“Ok, buddy. This is your show. I would very much appreciate it if you found EVERY man-trap BEFORE I step on it. In fact consider that an order. Do your job my friend.”

Dog simply looked at the old sergeant.

With the pep talk over with they started down the dark concrete reinforced tunnel. They had not gone ten meters before dog stopped dead in his tracks. As the sergeant looked closely he finally spotted the thin trip wire running to a Syrian made hand grenade. The sergeant took out about a pound of C-4 and placed it at that point on the tunnel.

He set the timer and they moved on. Every time they found a bobby trap the old sergeant set a charge. When they found supplies stored he set a large explosive charge. And when they found a large cache of weapons the old sergeant hid ten pounds of C-4 among the crates.

Using a small flashlight that he turned off and on as he needed it, they continued until the sergeant could see light up ahead. Dog stopped and cocked his ears to the right. Then he slowly moved up with the sergeant close behind.

They exited the tunnel inside a building on the Syrian side of the border. It was filled with explosive devices, trucks, and probably a hundred people loading and unloading supplies of various kinds.

Backing down the tunnel a ways the sergeant leaned in close to Dog. “Well, we’re in it deep this time boy. I hate to run that tunnel again. And besides we only have------five minutes before things get out of hand.”

Taking what was left of the C-4 the sergeant sat it up at the entrance to the tunnel. The blast should be more than enough to take the building down when it went off. He motioned to Dog to find a way out and as they started toward a door, thirty meters from where they were, they were spotted almost at once.

A yell went up and as the alarm was given the old sergeant shot the man with his colt. He popped a smoke grenade then headed for the door, both with their heads down and running for all they were worth.

They had no more than made it out the door when the explosions started to go off. They kept running, sand shooting up behind them as AK-47 rounds searched for a target. Just as they reached a ditch the world exploded behind them.

Across the border, the General and his staff stared in amazement as out of the cloud of sand, dust and smoke the old sergeant came walking, Dog in his wake. Blood ran down his right pant leg and sand covered him from head to toe. Dog had a severed arm in his mouth.

The captain was the first to greet him.

“Sergeant you have disobeyed the General’s orders and probably caused an international incident. You were suppose to----------.”

The old sergeant had knocked the Captain off his feet with a right cross.

“Let me tell you something you smart ass. You have a lot to learn about being an officer. What you saw was an accident on the Syrian side of the border. The explosives they were handling went off as they were being loaded.”

Dog had dropped his “bone” and was in the attack position.

The General finally intervened. “Captain, go away. NO! Don’t say a word. Just get out of my site before I let Pappy and his dog at you.”

As the Captain slowly walked off the General came over to the sergeant. “Good job son. I always like it when the terrorists have accidents.”

“Yes Sir, me too,” the old sergeant said with a grin.

Dog picked up his “bone.” He seemed happy as a lark.

By:

Steve Newton

Write Pappy at:

pappy@silverstarfamilies.org