|
|
|
|
|
Many of the soldiers who came back from Vietnam remember their dogs. They deeply regret that these dogs were put down or abandoned after they had worked so hard to save the lives of soldiers. There is now a website where they put the photos of the dogs they worked with, and remember them. Here is what one ex-soldier wrote about his dog. |
 |
Flop, I'm writing to you because it seems like the right thing to do. I didn't want to leave you behind in Vietnam, but I really had no other choice. I told you where I was going and I know you understood. I know you wanted to go home with me, please forgive me. I thought you'd be coming home some day. Had I had any idea the military had no intention of bringing you and the others back home, I never would have left you. The way you looked into my eyes; I really believe you were reading my mind. Coming home was great, but knowing you were still over there bothered me a lot. All these years, I never knew what had happened to you and there was never anyone to talk to who would truly understand what I was going through.
Well, after 30 years I finally know the rest of the story. It took your new handler two weeks to get you to trust him, but you finally gave in and let him take you out. This was the fifth handler for you in Vietnam and you accepted him. After four months he was sent home and you were left alone again. PhuCat closed on Christmas Eve and you were sent to Cam Ranh Bay.
At Cam Ranh Bay you wanted nothing to do with anyone. The Air Force decided that the way to solve the problem was to put you down and they did. I don't understand how anyone could do that to you. You spent 7 years in Vietnam protecting your handlers, base, and all the people on the base. This was the reward you got for being faithful all those years. I could have taken you home, I was sent to Travis AB and they didn't have a dog for me there.
Flop, I want you to know that you were more than just a dog to me. You were a great Soldier and my best friend.