Dogs of War by Kathleen Kinsolving

Author:Kathleen Kinsolving [Kinsolving, Kathleen]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: WND Books
Published: 2012-02-12T05:00:00+00:00

By November 1942, plans to invade North Africa against German forces were put into full effect, as was Eisenhower as supreme commander of the North African Theater Operations. Although Ike had invited Kay to come along, he decided it best to take Telek with him for now, and Kay would follow later.

After she arrived in Algiers around Christmastime, Kay made her way to Villa dar el Ouard one morning to meet Eisenhower at his home for breakfast. She was taken aback by the number of guards patrolling the premises, and the fact that she had to show a pass to be allowed to enter. However, “all was forgotten as a ball of black fur came rocketing at me, barking furiously and wagging his tail with joy. Telek!” Kay was delighted that he had remembered her so well. Even better, she said, at breakfast he “sat in my lap and had half my bacon.”

Earlier, Ike had brought up the subject that Telek wasn’t yet housebroken. Kay reprimanded him a bit: “You just haven’t been paying attention to him.” The general responded with, “I’ve had a couple of other things on my mind, you know.”

Disaster would soon strike as a result, this time involving Ike’s boss, General George C. Marshall.

Marshall had been invited to spend the night at Ike’s villa in January 1943, immediately following the Casablanca Conference. Kay was “terrified” of him: “He was cold and austere and terribly, terribly formal.” Unlike Ike and Kay, General Marshall was not impressed with Telek as he ran up to greet the three of them, all the while chasing his tail in a perpetual circle.

As Telek settled down in Kay’s lap while Eisenhower showed Marshall to his room, the spry Scottie suddenly leaped and ran up the stairs to join in the fun. Moments later, Butch, who had been attending to the two generals, brought Telek back downstairs and informed Kay, “You know what this beast just did? He peed on the General’s bed.”

Kay was thunderstruck as Butch related the entire incident: “Ike was leaning over, pushing down on the mattress to show Marshall how comfortable it was, and Telek jumped up on the bed. He went right there on the spread, and then before I could grab him, he trotted up to the head of the bed and lifted his leg on the pillow.”

Butch added that Ike had issued a firm command: “Get that g**d****d dog out of here!” Needless to say, Telek was sequestered to Kay’s home throughout the duration of General Marshall’s visit to Algiers.

Before this particular embarrassment, Butch had written in his diary (dated December 12, 1942): “This morning I stepped out of bed, mentally recoiling from the dreaded cold tile floor, and my foot landed in the middle of Telek’s puddle. This war is hell.”

Although Butch was completely fed up with Telek’s antics, he nevertheless brought along a present after returning to Algiers from a trip to Washington, D.C.: a female Scottie and mate for Telek. Her name was Caacie (pronounced “Khaki”).

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