Category: Heroes

Tissue (Box) Alert! Watch Veterans Reunite with Their Beloved Dogs

Unless you have a heart of stone, videos of veterans being reunited with their delighted dogs should never fail to bring a tear (or 100) to your eyes. In honor of Veterans Day, here are some of the most heartwarming, in my humble opinion.

Marine Reunites with K-9 Partner 2 Years Later

After a two-year separation, last year Marine Sgt. Jacob Varela was reunited with Atilla, a German Shepherd who’s a trained tracker dog. The two had worked together for three years in a special operations unit.

“We were together for everything, everywhere I went out in the field,” Varela told WGN. “If I was drinking water, he was drinking water. He’s an actual teammate.”

When Varela found out that 9-year-old Atilla was being retired, he decided to adopt his former partner. The nonprofit organization Mission K9 Rescue, whose mission is to reunite military dogs with their handlers, helped to make this happen.

In July 2019, Varela and Atilla were reunited at Midway International Airport in Chicago. “The way he reacted, the way he jumped on me, he knows who I am, so that’s good,” Varela said.

Senior Golden Retriever Reunites with Dog Mom

Buddy, a 13-year-old, arthritic and partially deaf Golden Retriever, had been with her dog mom, Hannah Foraker, ever since she was a puppy. Foraker had never been away from her home in Cleveland, Ohio, when she joined the Army in 2015.

After a three-month separation, Foraker returned home for two weeks at Christmastime. “Buddy came running, as best as she could, out of the house and said hello to everyone,” Foraker told FOX 8 at the time. “At first she didn’t even realize I was there, but she did a double take and came bounding over to me, whining nonstop in pure glee.”

Foraker said Buddy never left her side during her visit.

After 3 Years, Soldier Reunites with His K-9 Partner

Vance McFarland and his bomb-sniffing K-9 partner, a Czech Shepherd named Ikar, spent two years together during a tour of duty in Afghanistan that ended in 2012.

Afterward, McFarland returned home to Boise, Idaho, while Ikar and other members of the Tactical Explosive Detection Dog (TEDD) program were bought by a private company and then left to languish in a boarding kennel. Fortunately, thanks to Mission K9 Rescue and the United States War Dogs Association posting photos of these dogs on social media, their former handlers, including McFarland, were successfully tracked down.

After a three-year separation, McFarland and Ikar were finally reunited, and it was all captured on video. McFarland adopted his loyal partner.

“Having a dog with you on deployment is almost like having a little bit of home,” McFarland told KTVB. “Other soldiers were jealous — they always wanted to come up and pet Ikar. We made the best of it.”

McFarland said Ikar “is going to live the rest of his retired life spoiled. Really spoiled.”

A Compilation for (Literally) Crying Out Loud

Still have some unused tissues left? Enjoy this compilation of veterans reuniting with their dogs that was put together by The Dodo.

You can make a donation to help Mission K9 Rescue facilitate more happy reunions.

Photo: Hannah Foraker/YouTube

Border Collie Detects Possible Survivor One Month after Beirut Explosion

One month after an explosion in Beirut injured thousands and claimed over 100 lives, a 5-year-old Border Collie named Flash led rescuers to someone who may have miraculously survived for 30 days in a collapsed building.

Flash is a sniffer dog who was working with TOPOS, a search-and-rescue team dispatched to Beirut from Chile. He is trained to find bodies and alert his team. As Flash and his human team members walked the streets in Beirut’s historic Mar Mikhail district yesterday, Flash suddenly rushed over to some rubble, the Associated Press reports.

Using audio equipment, TOPOS detected what sounded like a pulse of 18 to 19 beats per minute. The rescue team has used cranes, shovels and their bare hands to dig through the rubble in their efforts to reach the possible survivor. As of this morning, the pulse has dropped to seven beats per minute, and the rescue team continues to try to find its source.

Francisco Lermanda, the head of the rescue team, told local TV station Al Jadeed this morning that he couldn’t confirm whether there was a living or dead person under the rubble, and the rescue work would go on.

“Ninety-nine percent there isn’t anything, but even if there is less than 1 percent hope, we should keep on looking,” Youssef Malah, a civil defense worker, told Al Jadeed yesterday.

Flash has deservedly become a social media superhero. Some residents of Beirut posted that Flash cares more about Lebanese people than their own government does. The explosion was caused by about 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate that was unsafely stored at Beirut’s port.

Photo: @Joyce_Karam/Twitter

Firefighters Rescue Lost Dog During Southern California Wildfire

This story has been updated with more information about the dog, Buck, and why he ran away.

As they battled the so-called Apple Fire in Southern California, firefighters from Orange County made an unusual discovery. A Queensland Heeler mix was wandering alone along a fire lane, far away from any houses but not far from the wildfire burning nearby.

The crew with OC Firefighters, Local 3631 gave the lost dog water and part of a sandwich. They called Riverside County Animal Services (RCAS) and then carried the dog down a hill to the waiting animal control officer.

“Lt. Luis Rosa of our Coachella Valley Animal Campus — and his colleagues — responded to the call and transported the very sweet, very loving dog to our San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus,” RCAS wrote on its Facebook page yesterday.

If no one claimed the Queensland Heeler, the firefighter seen carrying him in this video promised to give the dog a forever home.

Fortunately, that won’t have to be the case, KNBC reports. When animal control officer Sgt. Lesley Huennekens was checking in on Greg Skeens of Banning to see if he needed any supplies for his pets and livestock, Skeens told her his dog, Buck, had chased after a coyote and disappeared. With the fire burning in the hills surrounding his home, Skeens thought the worst and figured he’d never see Buck again.

Imagine Skeens’s surprise when Huennekens asked him if his missing dog happened to be a Queensland Heeler mix.

Thanks to the efforts of those firefighters, Skeens was reunited with his wayward dog. As you can see in the video, they were both delighted to see each other again. Not only did firefighters save Buck, but they had also saved Skeens’ home from being burned to the ground.

Meanwhile, those OC firefighters along with other crews are still bravely fighting the Apple Fire, which has destroyed four homes and burned over 32,000 acres as of August 8. Luckily no people or pets have died, including one Queensland Heeler whose life was likely saved thanks to the kindness of that OC Firefighters crew.

Photo: Riverside County Animal Services/Facebook

Firefighter Pays It Forward 21 Years Later by Saving Dog’s Life

When Rob Lee was 6 years old, a fire broke out in his family’s Fresno, Calif., house on the day before the Fourth of July. All of his family members were able to get out safely, including Lee’s dog, Mackie, who was carried out by a firefighter before the house collapsed in flames.

Inspired by that hero who saved Mackie’s life, Lee became a firefighter. He worked with several other fire departments before getting his dream job with the Fresno Fire Department.

Fast-forward to exactly 21 years after that house fire. On July 3, Lee was one of the firefighters who responded to a Fresno house fire that was probably ignited by fireworks that had set a nearby tree ablaze. Inside the house was a 10-year-old English Bulldog named Samson.

“There was a firefighter already inside tending to a dog and they were trying to get the dog out,” Lee told KFSN. “The dog had already bit that firefighter, so they were trying to get the dog out of the structure safely.”

With his helmet cam recording the rescue on video, Lee entered the burning house and saved Samson’s life.

“Houses can be rebuilt but dogs can’t be replaced,” Lee told KFSN.

Samson was treated for smoke inhalation, according to his owner, James Verdugo, who’s a veteran and suffers from PTSD. “He’s all I cared about,” Verdugo told KMPH. He wasn’t home at the time of the fire, but his roommates were, and were able to escape to safety.

After Verdugo got a call that his house was on fire and was driving home, he got another call that Samson had been rescued. “I don’t know if I’ve ever felt more overjoyed in the middle of so much tragedy,” he told KMPH. “It’s like everything was okay, even though my house was gone.”

Working with the Fresno Fire Department is “an absolute honor,” Lee told KFSN. “I can’t believe that I get to do this job.”

An online fundraiser to cover the cost of Samson’s $6,000 veterinarian bill has already raised over $5,000. You can make a contribution here.

Updated July 9, 2020

Photo: @VanessaABC30/Twitter

Four Monuments Honoring 4-Legged US War Heroes

Memorial Day is a time to honor the memory of those who bravely gave their lives for their country – and that should include four-legged as well as two-legged war heroes. Here are some monuments around the United States that pay tribute to the many military working dogs who bravely served their country.

1. United States War Dogs Memorial (New Jersey)

Located at the entrance to the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial in Holmdel, N.J., this bronze statue of a Vietnam War soldier kneeling beside his loyal four-legged partner was funded and dedicated by the United States War Dogs Association in 2006. Sculptor Bruce Lindsay created the statue, which was the first official memorial in the United States to honor military dogs.

“Military canines make contributions every day while they serve in our military,” the association’s president, Ron Aiello, a former Marine scout dog handler and Vietnam veteran, said in 2006. “They are hardworking and do a great job of saving the lives of their handlers and the troops who walk in their footsteps.”

What makes this and other memorials especially heartrending is that most of the life-saving hero dogs that served during the Vietnam War never made it home alive.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

2. US Military Working Dog Teams National Monument (Texas)

This monument, dedicated in 2013, is open to the public at Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA)-Lackland in Texas. It depicts a soldier standing alongside the four most common breeds of military dogs since World War II: a Doberman Pinscher, German Shepherd, Labrador Retriever and Belgian Malinois. The pedestal is inscribed, “Guardians of America’s Freedom.”

The monument also includes the “Not Forgotten Fountain.” This is a bronze statue of a soldier pouring water from a canteen into his helmet for his partner, the German Shepherd sitting by his side.

“These dogs were patriots just as much as anybody else who served,” military dog handler John Baker, whose unit, 212th Military Police Company Detachment A, was known as “Hell on Paws,” told Reuters when the monument was unveiled.

JBSA-Lackland is the home of the Department of Defense Military Working Dog program, the world’s largest training center for military dogs and handlers. The center has been training dogs for all branches of the military since 1958.

Photo: U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Krystal M. Jeffers

3. Sgt. Stubby Statue (New York)

Although he was the most decorated war dog in U.S. history and the only military dog ever promoted to sergeant, it took over 100 years for Sgt. Stubby to be honored with a monument. In 2018, “Stubby Salutes,” a life-size statue of the hero dog, was dedicated in Middletown, Conn. The original casting remains there, and the statue is now in the American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog in New York City.

After Stubby was rescued in 1917 on a Yale University field by John Robert Conroy, a soldier who was training for World War I combat, Conroy smuggled his dog aboard his ship with him when he was deployed to France. During 17 battles on the Western Front, Stubby saved countless lives by alerting troops when he smelled mustard gas or heard artillery shells. He was able to crawl under barbed wire fences to reach injured soldiers and remained beside them until help arrived. He captured a German spy by the seat of his pants. And, as a plaque on his statue says, Stubby “was a morale booster.”

Conroy’s family had tried for 30 years to get a monument dedicated to Stubby, according to the Associated Press. The statue was created by artist Susan Bahary. Along with Stubby’s likeness, Bahary said she wanted “to capture that beautiful spirit. That courage. His bravery. His ability to cheer up the troops both on the battlefield and at home.”

4. Military Working Dog Tribute (Wisconsin)

This life-sized bronze sculpture inside Highground Veterans Memorial Park in Neillsville, Wisc., depicts a soldier crouched beside his partner, a German shepherd, with one hand holding a rifle and the other holding the dog’s harness. Plaques display the names of handlers and their dogs.

The memorial “is in recognition of the military working dogs that have graced the soldiers’ lives who worked in combat with these brothers in arms,” according to the official website. Dedicated in 2018, it was created by Michael Martino and conceived by a group of Vietnam War veterans.

More War Dog Monuments

You can find a comprehensive list of war dog memorials across the country on the Vietnam Dog Handler Association’s website.

Photo: U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Krystal M. Jeffers

This story was originally published on Care2.com.

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