Vol. 2 Issue 1, February 2010
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
February, 2010 Military Working Dog Team Support Association, Inc. Quarterly Newsletter Volume 2, Issue 1 MWDTSA KENNEL TALK www.mwdtsa.org JoinMWDTSAnowso Courtney introduces her new MWDTSA T-shirt youwon’tmissanyof thephotos,stories,news Meet Courtney Grif- TeeandtheHoodie.Prices andhighlightsof2010! fin,alocalhighschool for the T-shirts are $24.95 senior who selected plus applicable taxes and Military Working the price of the Hoodie is Dogs as her Senior $39.95 plus applicable Project. Courtney’s Inside this issue: taxes. These can be or- interests are animal dered using a form found oriented as she cur- onlinethroughourwebsite Raisin Bread 2 rentlyworks part-time at for a veterinarian and Coloring Page for kids 2 hasbeenacceptedinto http://www.mwdtsa.org/ the Veterinary pro- courtneyf.html gram at Mississippi Nemo’s War Dog 3 MWDTSA was thrilled State beginning next Heroes when Hollywood actor, fallworkingtowardsa Muse Watson, placed and Fort Hood Gift 4 degree in biochemis- tookdeliveryofCourtney’s try. Courtney shares veryfirstorder.Mr.Watson her busylife with her is renowned for his recur- T C Country KONG’s 5 family,includingEllie, for K9s ring guest role as Agent a Westie, and Liz, a Mike Franks on NCIS , his chocolateLab. prominentroleasthefeline Pack and Shop 6 MWDTSA met early -loving convict, Charles Westmoreland, on the Gifts received and en- 7 on in the school year show PrisonBreak and as joyed with Courtney to de- Courtney Griffin models the Royal Blue cidewhatopportunities and white TT----shirtshirt while showing off her the villain in the classic TopDogFundraiser 10 horror film I KnowWhat wecouldsharewithher Lab, Liz, and the tan and black version YouDidLastSum mer. For andwhatideasshehad that MWDTSA produced and sent in Check out the Blog formakingadifference moreonMuse,checkout, most of our holiday packages. www.musewatson.com on our website for in the lives of Military Working Dogs and handlers. Of course, Courtneycould not the most up to date One of the areas that she was German Shepherd Dog hur- dling over the W. The han- be more pleased with the re- news and exciting expressedandinterestinwork- sponse that she’s gotten from photos. ing on was creating a T-shirt dlers askedfor it to be in tan with black so theycouldwear the deployed dog handlers. for a fundraiser. Since Theyarelovinghershirt.Please it withtheir uniforms. Court- MWDTSA is well known for have a look at the website and ourT-shirts,weknewwehada neysettledontwocolorcom- Thanks to the binations: the tan with black placeanorderforyourselfanda match for this design-savvy fewfriends.Ifyoudon’tseethe Tampa, Florida area thatthehandlershadrequested student. size youwant, please ask for it dog fanciers for all of and her favorite T-shirt color, Withtheinputofseveralhan- RoyalBluewithwhite. andwe’ll see if we can make it your wonderful sup- dlers from around the globe, happen. Theresultsarethreenewprod- port and hard work. Courtneyfinallysettledonthe Thanks in advance for your MWDTSA acronym with a ucts, the Tan and Black Tees andtheRoyalBlueinboththe support! Pa ge 2 MWDTSA KENNEL TALK Volume 2, Issue 1 www.mwdtsa.org Phan Rang Raisin Bread Original Article by Eddie Stott Lookingbackonsomeoftheexperi- alwaysafavoriteofmineandI When shipments of flour ar- encesthattookplacewhileIwasin was excited when the cook rived that had weevils, he Vietnam at Phan Rangthere are gave me some during the in- wouldattempttosiftthemout obviouslyseveralitemsthatIhavea spection.WhileeatingapieceI BUT when he couldn’t get difficult time dealing with. BUT, happened to notice that some them all out, he then pro- there is one itemthat definitelyaf- oftheraisinslookedweirdand ceeded to make “Raisin fectedmydietarydesiresfortherest were unusuallysmall. Looking Bread”. It turnedout that this ofmylife. closeritwasindeednotaraisin wasanormalprocedure. but a bug, My God it was a I reported this to the Captain weevil !!. I threw the bread atthehospitalwhereIworked InadditiontocaringforSentry away and didn’t think too whohadtheultimatepowerto and Scout Dogs, one of the muchaboutituntilaboutthree make a decision and was told duties of an Air Force Vet I talked to the cook and weeks later during another to keepmymouth shut. The Tech was to inspect the chow told him this was the inspection,when,sohelpme, guys at the chowhall gave us halls and food. Stateside one second time I had been theywere makingraisin bread food for picnics etc., etc. and could be very strict, but in served weevils and he again. I got another piece and the Captain didn’t want to do Vietnamjust the opposite was had to do something. To youguessedit,anotherbugor anythingtogetoursuppliescut true because the food service my surprise he confessed weevil. off. The result was that al- personnel had very little to that he had done I talked to the cook and told though the chow hall could workwith. something. himthiswasthesecondtimeI make that special raisin bread Sometime during early 1967 hadbeenservedweevilsandhe going forward, I have never while inspectingthe chowhall had to do something. To my eaten another piece of raisin Inoticedthecookwasmaking surprise he confessed that he breadsince. raisin bread. Raisin bread was haddonesomething. From Students to our Troops: Red, White and Really, Really Blue Enjoy these wonderful pieces of supportive artwork sent to the dogs and handlers from Colham Ferry Elementary School, GA. MWDTSA KENNEL TALK Volume 2, Issue 1 Pa ge 3 www.mwdtsa.org Nemo A534 –A Hero of Tan Son Nhut Thanks to Bill Cummings, a Duringtheinitialassault,one Vietnam era dog handler, and Let me take youback in time handler (A2C George M. founding member of Nemo’s forjustamoment... Bevich, Jr.) and three sentry War Dog Heroes, for sharing dogswerekilled.SentryDog PredawnhoursofDecember4, thetextofaspeechgivenatthe Rebel, who first detected a 1966 dedicationoftheNemoMemo- group of approximately 75 rial. This is the compelling Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Re- VClessthan100yardsaway, storyofanamazingdog. publicofVietnamwasattacked was the first to be killed by bya large force of Viet Cong automaticweaponfire. Good Morning! On behalf of commandos.TheAirBasewas At an adjacent post, Sentry alloftheMilitaryWorkingDog hit by approximately 60 mor- DogCubby, alertedandwas handlers,bothpastandpresent, tars.ThesizeoftheVietCong killedbygunfire. thank you for this opportunity infiltration force was believed to dedicate the “Nemo’s War to have been over 75 sabo- Another sentry dog, Toby, DogHeroes”Memorialproject teurs. alsoalertedastheinfiltrators currently underway here at advanced, and was killed by Once inside the base, the en- Lackland Air Force Base, San gunfire.Theattackhadbeen emy divided into smaller Antonio,TX. thwartedandnowitwastime NEMO A534 in a portrait groups to attack their targets. tosecurethebaseasdaylight showing him after his combat I’dliketotakeabriefmoment Several sentry dog teams sta- approached. to introduce the members of tionedonperimeterpostsgave tour, with his right eye missing. the committee who are here the initial alert and warning Unfortunately, K9 teams today: almost simultaneously. This were not included in those day- comenear.Whenhelparrived, they were able to convince TerryStrickland early warning enabled security light patrols. Just before total Nemo to leave his handler, Bien Hoa (3 rd SPS) – forces of the 377 th Air Police darkness on December 4 th , 1966 who was then given first aid. 67-68 – Vietnam (King) Korat Squadron to successfullyrepel afterSentryNemoandhishandler Nemo, suffering from a gun- RATB (388th SPS)- 68-69— the attack, minimizingdamage were posted, Nemo alerted and shot wound to his face, and Thailand(Mr.MistyX851) to aircraft and facilities. Al- wasreleasedtoattacktheVCwho though wounded, one dog had evaded earlier detection. the lost of his right eye, was KellyBateman handler continued to engage Nemoandhishandlerwereboth relievedofsentrydogduties. UbonRTAB(8 th SPS) the enemy, while notifying wounded, but not before killing The 377th SPS was awarded – 70-71 – Thailand (Baron CentralSecurityControl(CSC) twoVC.Nemo'sinjuriesincluded the Air Force Outstanding 279M) of their location anddirection thelossofoneeyeandagunshot Unit Award for its "heroic ErnestChilders oftravel. wounded that ripped into his valor," against the Viet Cong nd nose. Udorn RTAB (432 Twosecuritypolicemenofthe infiltrationforce. SPS)–70-71–(DukeX093) 377 th SecurityPoliceSquadron , AsweepoftheareabytheQuick Nemo’sservicetohiscountry JimmyThornton positioned in a machine gun ResponseTeam(QRT)metwith didnotend Phan Rang (35 th SPS) bunker, were at the ready as negativeresults. Nemo has been creditedwith – 68-69 – Vietnam (Gunner the VC approached the main Usingadditionalsentrydogteams, saving his handler's life and 2B29) Udorn(432 nd aircraft-parking ramp. In a the security forces located and preventingfurther destruction SPS)–73-74–Major(85X8), short period of time they re- killedfourmoreVC. oflifeandpropertyatTanSon pelled the enemy, killing thir- MikeGriffin Nhut Air Base. On 23 June teen of the attackers. Security A second sweep with the dog Udorn RTAB (432 nd 1967, Headquarters, USAF, forcesrapidlydeployedaround teamsresultedinthediscoveryof SPS) – 72-73 – (Trainer/ directed that Nemo be re- the perimeter and prevented fouradditionalVCwhowerehid- Supervisor), turnedtotheUnitedStatesas numerous infiltrators from ing underground. The remaining the first sentry dog officially IamBillCummings escaping;forcingthemtoseek enemyforcesweresoonkilledby retired from active service.