Blog Archives
MEMORIAL DAY 2019
Luxembourg American Cemetery
Just a Common Soldier (A Soldier Died Today)
by A. Lawrence Vaincourt
He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion, telling stories of the past.
Of a war that he had fought in and the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies; they were heroes, every one.
And tho’ sometimes, to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
All his Legion buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke.
But we’ll hear his tales no longer for old Bill has passed away,
And the world’s a little poorer, for a soldier died today.
He will not be mourned by many, just his children and his wife,
Michael, my son.
For he lived an ordinary and quite uneventful life.
Held a job and raised a family, quietly going his own way,
And the world won’t note his passing, though a soldier died today.
When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing and proclaim that they were great.
Papers tell their whole life stories, from the time that they were young,
But the passing of a soldier goes unnoticed and unsung.
Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land
Smitty, my father
A guy who breaks his promises and cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow who, in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his Country and offers up his life?
A politician’s stipend and the style in which he lives
Are sometimes disproportionate to the service that he gives.
While the ordinary soldier, who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal and perhaps, a pension small.
James J. O’Leary, my uncle
It’s so easy to forget them for it was so long ago,
That the old Bills of our Country went to battle, but we know
It was not the politicians, with their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom that our Country now enjoys.
Should you find yourself in danger, with your enemies at hand,
Would you want a politician with his ever-shifting stand?
Or would you prefer a soldier, who has sworn to defend
His home, his kin and Country and would fight until the end?
He was just a common soldier and his ranks are growing thin,
Arthur Mulroy, my cousin, now deceased
But his presence should remind us we may need his like again.
For when countries are in conflict, then we find the soldier’s part
Is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.
If we cannot do him honor while he’s here to hear the praise,
Then at least let’s give him homage at the ending of his days.
Perhaps just a simple headline in a paper that would say,
Our Country is in mourning, for a soldier died today.
© 1987 A. Lawrence Vaincourt
THESE TROOPS TOOK THE TIME TO FIGHT FOR YOU AND ME. PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO HONOR THEM.
Posted here courtesy of : Partnering With Eagles
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Not your usual Military Humor today….
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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Farewell Salutes –
Vernon Bishop – Santa Rosa, FL; US Army, WWII, ETO, 1st Army Group
David Bond – Tampa, FL; USMC, Major (Ret.22 y.)
Tim Conway – Cleveland, OH; US Army / comedian 
Eugene Galella – Memphis, TN; US Navy, WWII, ETO/ETO, pilot / USNR, Lt. Commander (Ret.)
Charles Holland – Aberdeen, NC; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co. C/187/11th Airborne Division
Don Jesperson – Idaho Falls, ID; US Army, Korea, Co. B/187th RCT
Kaylie Ludwig – IL; US Navy, Lt., Medical Corps, 6th Fleet, USS Arlington
Ralph Manley – Springfield, MO; US Army, WWII, ETO, 101st Airborne Division, demolitions
I.M. Pei – brn. Canton, CHI; Civilian, WWII, bomb fuse creator / architect
Herman Wouk – NYC, NY; US Navy, WWII, destroyer minesweeper / author
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11th Airborne Paratrooper – Melvin Garten
Col. Melvin Garten
Wednesday, July 04, 2018
Media’s self-importance never dies
An Associated Press photographer died. He was the fellow who took the picture of a fully armed paramilitary immigration enforcement officer taking a screaming child of six by force who was hiding with an adult in a closet, as the Clinton administration had no compunction about separating a Legal Immigrant from his family on American soil.
The Associated Press ran a 749-word obituary on the photographer, Alan Diaz. It was an interesting story — AP hired him after he took the SWAT team-crying kid photo.
But the story was a bit much, and a reminder of the media’s overblown sense of importance. The word iconic appeared four times.
Which brings me to a story I read about Melvin Garten, a real hero. His death brought no AP obituary because he never got a byline:
Toby Harnden, the Times of London reporter who has covered war with the troops and United States politics with equanimity, tweeted on May 6, 2015: “Trumpeter, food blogger, actress, golfer get New York Times obits today, but this man has his death notice paid for by family.”
The man whose family had to pay for his obituary was Melvin Garten, the most decorated and forgotten soldier at the time of his death.
Heroes are born and made. Melvin Garten was born May 20, 1921 in New York City, where he became another smart Jewish boy attending City College of New York. Japan’s sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, greatly altered his immediate plans. Upon graduation from CCNY, he joined the Army and became a paratrooper with the 11th Airborne Division. He then married his girlfriend, Ruth Engelman of the Bronx, in November 1942. She was a war bride. Everyone said the marriage wouldn’t last, and they were right because the marriage ended on January 9, 2013 — the day she died.
Melvin and Ruth Garten
Melvin went off to the Pacific Theater of the war, where he participated in what can only be described as an audacious airborne raid of Los Banos in 1945, rescuing more than 2,000 U.S. and Allied civilians from a Japanese prison camp. He was a highly decorated soldier, earning the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, a Presidential Unit Citation and the Purple Heart with three Oak Leak Clusters for his wounds in battle. He was tough and handsome and courageous.
As would war. At dawn on Sunday, June 25, 1950, with the permission of Stalin, the North Koreans crossed the 38th parallel behind artillery fire. Melvin was back in combat. Captain Garten proved his mettle again as commander of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. President Eisenhower awarded him the Distinguished Service Cross.
The citation reads: “Captain Garten distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action against enemy aggressor forces near Surang-ni, Korea, on 30 October 1952. On that date, observing that assault elements of Companies F and G were pinned down by withering fire on a dominant hill feature, Captain Garten voluntarily proceeded alone up the rugged slope and, reaching the besieged troops, found that key personnel had been wounded and the unit was without command. Dominating the critical situation through sheer force of his heroic example, he rallied approximately eight men, assigned four light machine guns, distributed grenades and, employing the principle of fire and maneuver, stormed enemy trenches and bunkers with such tenacity that the foe was completely routed and the objective secured. Quickly readying defensive positions against imminent counterattack he directed and coordinated a holding action until reinforcements arrived. His inspirational leadership, unflinching courage under fire and valorous actions reflect the highest credit upon himself and are in keeping with the cherished traditions of the military service.”
Pork Chop Hill
Having served at Luzon and Pork Chop Hill, Captain Garten came home and the family moved around. Ruth took care of her men.
“I never even bought my own clothes,” Melvin told Mike Francis of the Oregonian a few months before her death. “I never went shopping. It was not a part of my life. As an Army wife, she took care of those things.”
Their sons were in their teens when the Vietnam War erupted. Melvin earned his Combat Infantry Badge for the third time — perfect attendance as those men with that distinction of serving in those three wars called their service. The Army put him in command of the 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry in 1968 and he reinvigorated the unit, calling it the No Slack battalion.
Just as he almost completed the turnaround, his jeep ran over a Vietcong mine, sending shrapnel to his leg and to his head. Another war, another Purple Heart, only this time it cost him his leg. The military sent him to Walter Reed to recuperate.
Ruth went alone, shielding her sons from the news, as they were in college. She wanted to see how he was. Melvin was in horrible condition. His head wound was more serious than their sons realized. For nearly a year, he worked to recover from the explosion. Melvin wanted to stay on active duty as a one-legged paratrooper. She supported his decision. They had to appear before a medical board. Ruth told the Oregonian, “When I got there, they wanted to know only one thing. ‘Was he as difficult a man before was wounded as he is now?’ one board member asked. ‘No difference,’ I answered. And he passed.”
His assignment was as post commander of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, home of the Airborne and Special Operational Forces, a nod to his sterling and exemplary service under fire.
Gen. Eichelberger (C) w/ Gen. Swing (R) planning the raid of Los Banos
Melvin retired as the most decorated man in the Army at the time with the Distinguished Service Cross, four Silver Stars, five Bronze Stars, five Purple Hearts, two Legion of Merits, two Joint Service Commendations, a Combat Infantry Badge for each of three wars, and a Master Parachutist Badge with two combat jump stars. Melvin paid dearly for those awards, but so did Ruth. She was one of the few women to receive five telegrams over the years informing her that her husband was wounded in combat. And by few, I mean I do not know of another.
But his retirement in Florida began three wonderful decades for them. In 2000, Ruth and Melvin moved to Oregon to live near their son, Allan. Doctors diagnosed her as having Parkinson’s. Mike Francis interviewed Melvin and their sons 11 months before her death. Melvin said, “All these things she put up with. All the things she did for the family. She kept our lives going for 70 years. ”
Following her death on January 9, 2013, the family buried her in Arlington, where all our military heroes belong. He joined her there following his death on May 2, 2015.
Click on images to enlarge.
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Military Humor –
Para-Toast.
‘I count only four parachutes. Where’s Mr. Simms?’
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Farewell Salutes –
Richard Bettinson – Pelly, CAN; RC Air Force/RAF, WWII, ETO
John Carberg – New London, CT; USMC
Robert Daughtery – Clinton, IN; US Army, WWII, PTO, 3rd Signal Battalion
Paul Fournier – Cleveland, OH; US Navy, WWII
John Graziano – Elkridge, MD; US Air Force, Captain, 87th Flying Training Squadron, KIA
Hank Kriha – Oshkosh, WI; US Army, WWII, PTO, 32nd Red Arrow Division
George McClary – Pueblo, CO; US Coast Guard, WWII, USS El Paso
James Ruff – Summitt, NJ; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, SSgt., 11th Airborne Division
Harold Sullivan – Morriston, FL; US Army, WWII, ETO / Korea, Purple Heart
John Yordan – Detroit, MI; US Army
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Veterans Day 2018
A MESSAGE FROM THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES….
https://mailchi.mp/nara/0rjknzxchj-763401?e=2018eed2da
NO MATTER WHAT COUNTRY YOU LIVE IN – IF YOU ARE LIVING FREE – THANK A VETERAN !!!
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Here We Go……
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Farewell Salutes –
Daniel Buchta – Far Rockaway, NY; US Navy, USS Nimitz
Jean Danniels – ENG; WRENS, WWII
Waverly Ellsworth Jr. – Buffalo, NY; US Navy, Korea, medic
Virgil; Johnston – Grove, OK; USMC, WWII
Alma (Smith) Knesel – Lebanon, PA; Manhattan Project (TN), WWII
Samuel Mastrogiacomo – Sewell, NJ; US Army Air Corps, WWII, MSgt., B-24 tail gunner, 2nd Air Div./8th A.F. (Ret. 33 y.)
Willis Sears Nelson – Omaha, NE; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, B-17 pilot
Gregory O’Neill – Fort Myers, FL; US Army, WWII, ETO, 787th
Orville Roeder – Hankinson, ND; US Army, Medic
Nicholas Vukson – Sault Saint Marie, CAN; RC Navy, WWII, Telegraphist, HMCS Lanark
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July Fourth 2018
While you enjoy your bar-b-ques and fireworks – take a moment to remember the troops that made it all possible for that to happen today.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY USA !!!
Ralph Waldo Emerson‘s “Concord Hymn.” It was sung at the completion of the Concord Battle Monument on April 19, 1837.
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world,
The foe long since in silence slept,
Alike the Conqueror silent sleeps,
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.
On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone,
That memory may their deed redeem,
When like our sires our sons are gone.
Spirit! who made those freemen dare
To die, or leave their children free,
Bid time and nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and Thee.
If you are setting off fireworks this evening, please be courteous to your neighboring veterans . Haven’t they heard enough?
Take good care of your pets
Click on images to enlarge.
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Fourth of July Humor – or is it?
courtesy of ‘America on Coffee’
courtesy of: Henry Kotula
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Farewell Salutes –
Hobert Bingham – Alcorn County, MS; USMC, WWII, PTO
James Conway – Sun City, AZ; US Army, WWII, 2nd Lt.
Irving Green – Mountaindale, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, bombardier
Charles Highley Jr. – Glen Ridge, NJ; USMC, WWII, PTO
Lois Jolly – Hempstead, NY; US Army WAC, WWII, ETO, nurse
Thomas Miller – Norfolk, VA; US Army Air Corps, 152nd AAA/11th Airborne Division
Joseph Rizzi – Bronx, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, CO A/457 Artillery/11th Airborne Divsion
Ray Sarvis – Bessemer City, NC; US Navy, WWII, PTO
Harold Tor – Beach, CA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co F/187th/11th Airborne Division
Robert Watz – Westerly, RI; US Army, Korea, Co A/187th RCT
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U.S. MEMORIAL DAY
“Taps” Please take a moment for them before you begin your holiday.
“Hymn To The Fallen” Support the troops.
Not every country holds Memorial Day on this date, many are in November when we hold our Veteran’s Day, and I’m certain you have your own ceremonies to display gratitude to your troops. Shake the hand of a veteran today!
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Military Family Remembrance –
courtesy of fellow blogger, Patty B.
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Farewell Salutes –
Walter Backman – Aurora, IL; US Navy, WWII, Radioman 2nd Class, USS Oklahoma, KIA
Alan Bean – Fort Worth, TX; US Navy, NASA, astronaut
John C. England – Colorado Springs, CO; US Navy, WWII, Ensign, USS Oklahoma, KIA
Paul Etchepare Jr. – LaGrange, IL; US Army, Vietnam, 2nd LT.
Paul A. Nash – Carlisle, IN; US Navy, WWII, Fire Controlman, USS Oklahoma, KIA
Charles R. Ogle – Mountain View, MO; US Navy, WWII, Fireman 1st Class, USS Oklahoma, KIA
Richard Prior – Reese, MI, US Army, 11th Airborne Division, Medical Unit
Philip Roth – Newark, NJ; US Army (author)
Dominick Santoro – East Meadow, NY; US Army, WWII
Lowell Valley – Ontonagon, MI; US Navy, WWII, Fireman 2nd Class, USS Oklahoma, KIA
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…and a Soldier Died Today…
Koji Kanemoto has started our Memorial Day weekend off with the proper remembrance and respect that our deceased veterans deserve.
Fourth of July
Red Skelton is amazing here – Please watch and have a happy and safe 4th of July!!
God Bless Our Troops
THE SOLDIER’S POEM
When this is over And we come home again,
Forget the band
And cheers from the stand;
Just have the things
Well in hand –
The things we fought for.
UNDERSTAND?
_____Pfc C.G. Tiggas
♣
♥
ONLY A SAILOR
He’s only a sailor on the boundless deep, Under foreign skies and tropical heat. Only a sailor on the rolling deep, In summer rain and winter sleet.____Unknown
Remember when it was popular to be patriotic? We had fun back then!!
Parades and picnics!!
Even the kids got involved!
Please remember that fireworks can cause PTSD reactions. Please be considerate. Thank you.
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Fourth of July – Humor or Truth ?
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Farewell Salutes – 
Kenneth Alsdurf – Syracuse, NE; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 11th Airborne Division
Phyllis Cox Birney – Floral City, FL; Civilian US Army & Air Force employee (Ret.)
Ray Flow – Broadway, NC; US Army
Dick Hickman – Louisville, KY; US Air Force, Vietnam, MSgt. (Ret), Bronze Star
Paul Hubble (103) – W.Palm Beach, FL; US Navy, WWII
Jack Jennings – Bronx, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Lt.Col. (Ret. 30 yr.), fighter pilot
Cyril Maceyka – Waltham, MA; USMC, WWII, PTO
Oiva Pakka – Butte, MT; US Army Air Corps, WWII, CBI, 1st LT., B-29 navigator
Kenneth Steele – Kansas City, MI; US Navy, WWII, ETO
Franklin Trapkin – Ramsey, NJ; US Army, WWII
Robert Uhlman – Des Moines, IA; USMC, WWII, PTO
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U.S. Army’s 242nd Birthday / Flag Day
THE U.S. ARMY
AMERICA’S FIRST NATIONAL INSTITUTION
U.S. Army uniforms through the years
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FLAG DAY
Today is Flag Day, an annual observance of the Second Continental Congress’ official adoption of the stars and stripes in 1777. At the time, they “resolved that the flag of the 13 United States” be represented by 13 alternating red and white stripes and the union by 13 white stars in a blue field, “representing a new constellation.” Now, more than 200 years later and with an updated design, the flag is an American icon. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania is the only state to recognize it as a legal holiday.
U.S. Army Sergeant Joey Odoms’ audition to sing the National Anthem from Afghanistan. On 10 November 2016, he performed in Baltimore, Maryland.
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Farewell Salutes –
Dillion Baldridge – Youngsville, NC; US Army, Afghanistan, 101st Airborne Division, Cpl., KIA
William Bays- Barstow, CA; US Army, Afghanistan, 101st Airborne Division, Sgt., KIA
Eric Houck – Baltimore, MD; US Army, Afghanistan, 101st Airborne Division, Sgt., KIA
R. Patrick McGinley – Plainville, CT; US Army, 11th Airborne Division
Robert ‘Allen’ O’Berry – Kissimmee, FL; US Army, Sgt. (Ret. 20 yrs.)
Marcella Remery – W.Palm Beach, FL; US Army WAC
Harold Roland Jr. – Atlanta, GA; US Army, Korea, 82nd Airborne Division
Richard Stackhouse – Indianapolis, IN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, Lt., B-24 bombardier
Robert Wilke Sr. – Owens Cross Roads, AL; US Army, Vietnam, Lt.Colonel, Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Samuel Wilson – Rice, VA; WWII & Vietnam, ‘Merrill’s Marauders, Lt. General (Ret. 37 yrs.), Silver Star (2), Bronze Star (2)
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for the Veterans – Military Appreciation Month
Martha Cothren with her class
This is a contribution from my brother for the veterans! There is a lesson here that the students of Little Rock High School will never forget. I would presume also that most students would never have given this a thought……
In September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a History teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock , did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks in her classroom. When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks.
‘Ms. Cothren, where are our desks?’
She replied, ‘You can’t have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.’
They thought, ‘Well, maybe it’s our grades.’ ‘No,’ she said.
‘Maybe it’s our behavior.’ She told them, ‘No, it’s not even your behavior.’
Martha Cothren
And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom. Kids called their parents to tell them what was happening and by early afternoon television news crews had started gathering at the school to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.
The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the desk-less classroom. Martha Cothren said, ‘Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he or she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.’
At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it. Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniform, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began
Martha Cothren with veterans
placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall. By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.
Martha said, ‘You didn’t earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. They went halfway around the world, giving up their education and interrupting their careers and families so you could have the freedom you have. Now, it’s up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don’t ever forget it.’
By the way, this is a true story. And this teacher was awarded the Veterans of Foreign Wars Teacher of the Year for the State of Arkansas in 2006. She is the daughter of a WWII POW.
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Military Humor –
INCOMING !!
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Farewell Salutes –
Verdun Affleck – Timaru, NZ; RNZ Army # 8383, WWII, 20th NZ Btn., driver
Tommy Haynes – Abanda, AL; US Navy, WWII, Sea Bees
Joseph Hillman Jr. – Rock Run, GA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, Engineers (Ret. 30 Years)
Ralph Iossa – Madison, NJ; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Sgt., 11th Airborne Division
Adolph Kiefer – Chicago, IL; US Navy, WWII, [Olympian swimmer]
Ralph Pierman – Shawnee, OK; US Navy, WWII, Carpenter 1st Mate, LST-471, 3 Bronze Stars
Wilburn Ross – Whitley City, KY; US Army, WWII, ETO, MSgt. (Ret.), Purple Heart, Medal of Honor
Kenji Tashiro – CA; US Army, WWII, ETO, MSgt., 442 RCT / Korea & Vietnam
Leo Thorsness – Walnut Grove, MN; US Air Force, Vietnam, POW, Medal of Honor
Julius Younger – NYC, NY; US Army, WWII, Manhattan Project
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Working Dogs honored for their service
Sgt. Wes Brown & Isky
WASHINGTON — During a routine perimeter check in the desert of Afghanistan, Isky found a roadside bomb. He had come to a complete stop, sitting near the explosive device, patiently waiting for orders from his best friend, Army Sgt. Wess Brown.
The IED – buried two feet deep – was a 120-pound bomb. Isky, a German shepherd military working dog, had just saved countless lives.
For his service, he was honored on Capitol Hill – along with three other dogs – with the first-ever K-9 Medal of Courage. It is the nation’s highest honor for military dogs, acknowledging their extraordinary valor and service, awarded by the American Humane Association.
Isky found at least five deadly IEDs and 10 weapon caches as an explosive-detection dog deployed with Brown in July 2013. The two spent a year protecting U.S. political leaders, including President Barack Obama.
Isky and Brown were with 100th Military Working Dog Detachment and have been together since October 2011.
“After he came out of training from Lackland – he was about 18 months old – I was his first handler to certify with him,” Brown, now 27, said.
While most military working dogs can have two to seven handlers, Isky has only had one: Brown.
“I didn’t PCS,” Brown said. If he had, the dog would have gone to a new handler.
In May 2014, Isky’s military career came to an end.
“We were on a combat mission, one of many,” Brown said. “To avoid an ambush we had to get into the vehicles fairly quickly. While Isky was running up the stairs, I had a hold of him, but he fell off the side and broke his leg in six different spots.”
The leg had to be amputated.
“Once I knew he got injured and knew what was happening, as soon as his amputation was scheduled and his future with the Army was done,” Brown put in the paperwork to adopt him, he said.
Brown has been separated from Isky for only two weeks, and that was while Isky recovered. Even when Isky isn’t with him, Brown carries his picture.
These days, instead of searching for bombs, Isky suns himself on a porch in Virginia with Brown. He has become Brown’s PTSD service dog, and the two comfort each other.
“I have nightmares, I get night terrors stuff like that,” Brown said. “I’ll wake up, and he’s jumped up in bed with me. He kind of does the same thing. I’ll hear him have bad dreams and I’ll wake him up. For all I know he’s chasing a ball, but it sounds to me like he’s having a pretty rough time in some of these dreams. I’ll wake him up and he jumps right up in bed with me. And we both calm down.”
Brown has been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress, and has three crushed discs in his neck. He is currently waiting to be medically retired from the Army.
Isky hasn’t been trained as a PTSD dog. But his bond with Brown is strong enough that when Brown has an anxiety attack, Isky knows.
“When I look at him, I feel safe because of everything we did together in Afghanistan. If it wasn’t for him and doing what we did, there would be a lot more people unable to go home,” Brown said.
More than 200 Congressional staffers and 19 members of Congress attended the event to honor military working dogs. The other dogs who earned the Medal of Courage:
- Matty, a Czech German shepherd, was a bomb-detection dog in Afghanistan. Now retired Army Spc. Brent Grommet, his handler, says that Matty saved his life and the lives of everyone in his unit more than once. The two were wounded together, including being in a truck that was hit by two roadside bombs. They were flown back to the U.S. for treatment, and while Grommet was in surgery, Matty was wrongly given to someone else. The Humane Association helped reunite the two, and now Matty serves as a support dog for Grommet.
- Fieldy, a black Labrador retriever, served four combat tours in Afghanistan, where he worked to detect explosives. Handler Marine Cpl. Nick Caceres spent seven months deployed with Fieldy in 2011 and adopted him three years later when the lab was discharged.
- Bond, a Belgian Malinois, worked 50 combat missions and deployed to Afghanistan three times. He was a multipurpose dog with a special operations unit before he retired. Bond suffers from combat trauma and will be reunited with his handler, who will leave active duty in a few months.
From “Stars and Stripes.”
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Military Canine Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
- Cairo, a Belgian Malinois used by U.S. Navy Seals in Operation Neptune Spear, in which Osama bin Laden was killed.
- Gander – a Newfoundland, was posthumously awarded the Dickin Medall for his feats during the Battle of Hong Kong in WWII.
Civil War mascot memorial
Gunner – Canine air-raid early warning system during the bombing of Darwin in World War II.
- Rags – a Signal Corps mascot during World War I.
- Rifleman Khan – a German Shepherd that won the Dickin Medal for bravery.
- Rip – a Second World War search and rescue dog.
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Sarbi – an Australian special forces explosives detection dog, that spent almost 14 months missing in action (MIA) in Afghanistan before being recovered in 2009.
- Sasha – bomb sniffing dog, posthumously awarded the Dickin Medal
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Smoky – hero war dog of World War II, was a Yorkshire Terrier that served with the 5th Air Force in the Pacific after she was adopted by Corporal William Wynne. Smoky was credited with twelve combat missions and awarded eight battle stars..Sgt. Stubby – a Boston bull terrier, the most decorated war dog of WWI and the only dog to be nominated for rank and then promoted to sergeant through combat.
- Tich – Dickin Medal winner of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, WWII
- Treo – awarded Dickin Medal for work as a Arms and Explosives Search dog in Helmand Province, Afghanistan
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