Top Dog: The Story of Marine Hero Lucca by Maria Goodavage

Author:Maria Goodavage [Goodavage, Maria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780698161412
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2014-10-23T07:00:00+00:00

OVER THE YEARS, Chris Willingham had met dog handlers who had served in Vietnam. While he was an instructor at Lackland, several Vietnam War dog handlers worked with his students to put together a memorial there for a Vietnam hero dog named Nemo. The German shepherd had attacked some Vietcong who were attacking his men. In the attack, Nemo got shot in the nose and the eye. Even though he was blinded by his injury, he managed to run over to his fallen handler and lie on his body, guarding him until help arrived.

Nemo was one of only about two hundred dogs who returned from Vietnam, out of about four thousand who deployed. Most of the others were euthanized in-country or given to the South Vietnamese Army, which they figured amounted to the same fate, or worse. Times change. Willingham was grateful the Defense Department had learned a lesson, had listened to the people, and that now all war dogs return from war with their handlers. He didn’t think he could be in the profession if that weren’t the case. War without dogs like Lucca—prized by not just their handlers but everyone in the military who met them—had become, in one generation, hard to imagine.

Vietnam War dog handlers had spoken to Willingham on many occasions about the affection they had for their military dogs. Some devoted a cabinet or wall in their home to their dogs. Other guys kept their dog’s collar on a hook, at the ready, as if they would pop it on their dog when he came in wanting to go for a walk. Many of the veterans went to Vietnam dog handler meetings, where they rattle off their dogs’ names and tattoo numbers as easily as their own, without hesitation. Willingham could tell the dogs were a part of these handlers, just as today’s dogs were an extension of their handlers. Some of these men had reenlisted despite the nightmare conditions, just so their dogs would live longer, so that maybe something would change and the dogs could come home. And then one day they finally had to say good-bye after trying everything in their power to keep the dogs alive.

Willingham might miss Lucca, but at least it wasn’t like that.

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