Soldier Dogs (41 page)

L
ars’s handler lifts him from bunk to bunk on the USS
Norfolk
so his nose can get close enough to detect explosives on any level.
U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER SECOND CLASS PAUL D. WILLIAMS

A
“training aid” dog and his handler-in-training start the day enjoying the shade at the Department of Defense Military Working Dog School, at Lackland Air Force Base.
ROBIN JERSTAD

Lex L479 and his handler would go to sleep in the foxholes they shared while on patrol in Afghanistan. Soon after his handler fell asleep, the Belgian Malinois would crawl out from their tarp-protected foxhole and stand guard over him through the night—often in torrential rains.
MARINE SERGEANT MARK VIERIG

M
arine Corporal Max Donahue and Fenji M675—shown here in Garmsir, Afghanistan—bonded as soon as they met at Camp Pendleton, San Diego, six months earlier.
MARINE GUNNERY SERGEANT CHRIS WILLINGHAM

D
onahue and Fenji during a combat patrol. Fenji, like most dogs deployed in Afghanistan, uses her powerful nose to sniff for explosives.
CHRIS WILLINGHAM

D
onahue and Fenji on patrol in a marketplace in Garmsir. “You asked if Fenji has a good nose,” says Marine Gunnery Sergeant Chris Willingham, who took this photo. “I wouldn’t have been walking behind her if she didn’t.”
CHRIS WILLINGHAM

A
ir Force Staff Sergeant Brent Olson was awarded a Purple Heart for his actions in Afghanistan. Blek, who was also injured, received nothing. Military working dogs do not officially get commendations. “Dogs are soldiers, too. They give up their whole lives for this,” says Olson. “Not to be recognized officially is a slap in the face.”
U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY SERGEANT JEFFREY ALEXANDER

O
lson and Blek on a mountain mission in Afghanistan.
U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY SERGEANT JEFFREY ALEXANDER

“H
e always had my back,” says Air Force Staff Sergeant James Bailey, of his first military working dog, Robby D131. He has since adopted Robby.
JAMES BAILEY

R
ex L274 on guard in Iraq as his soldiers take a lunch break in their Stryker vehicle. Rex did not make it as a patrol dog because he was too gentle. “If you were playing and you acted as if he bit you, he’d let go and look all sad,” Army Sergeant Amanda Ingraham says. But she knew he would put his life on the line to protect her.
AMANDA INGRAHAM

I
ngraham on a mission with Rex in Iraq. More than anything, she remembers the companionship he provided her and the other troops. “He’d always find the one soldier who was having a hard day and hang out with them.”
AMANDA INGRAHAM

M
arine Sergeant Mark Vierig and Lex L479, on patrol in Afghanistan’s Upper Gereshk Valley during rainy season. A common refrain among handlers who have deployed: “War would have been hell without my dog.”
MARK VIERIG.