Black Heros

>> Story from Fayetteville Observer, Fayetteville, NC<<


Photo by Eve Meinhardt

Dogs offer comfort to soldiers in Iraq
By John RamseyStaff writer

Soldiers coming home from Iraq often have stories about the dogs they saw there.
Wild dogs, usually traveling in packs.

But a couple of black Labrador retrievers spent the past 15 months in the war zone, letting soldiers rub their bellies, playing fetch and traveling around Iraq in helicopters.

Named Sgt. 1st Class Budge and Sgt. 1st Class Boe, the dogs deployed to Iraq with the 528th Combat Stress Control, 44th Medical Command.

Equipped with specially made uniforms - complete with unit patches and protective goggles called "doggles" - their mission was to lighten the mood during soldiers' downtime and to help reduce the stigma of using combat stress therapy. Soldiers could pet the dogs during therapy sessions or play with them when handlers brought them around the base.

"A lot of the soldiers would say,'Finally, we have a dog we can pet,' " said Staff Sgt. Syreeta Reid, Budge's handler in Iraq. "It's hard to explain the facial expression you see on asoldier's face when you see these dogs coming."

Six months of training prepared Budge and Boe to keep their cool in a war zone. America's VetDogs, a company that readies guide dogs for aging or injured veterans, prepared the labs for their mission. The training cost was more than $50,000 per dog. "We exposed them numerous times to the sound of gunfire, helicopters," said William Krol, a spokesman for the company. "They took the dogs into New York City construction sites. Basically anything that would expose the dogs to noises they
would potentially hear."

Reid said having Budge by her side helped her forge relationships with soldiers who may have never spoken to therapists otherwise.

Dog opens door

One battalion commander was known to be a tough guy, refusing appointments with anybody, Reid said. But he was a dog lover, and
that got her foot in the door for a meeting. It led to her setting up times to walk out with Budge to the motor pool so more troops could play with him.

At least once a month, Reid said, she would strap on Budge's earmuffs and take a ride with him from their base in Mosul to other parts of Iraq to visit more soldiers. Budge eventually grew to love flying in helicopters, she said.

Reid had to say goodbye to Budge when they returned to Fort Bragg last month. She said the experience was like ripping off a Band-Aid.

Boe and Budge will continue their military service on assignment at Fort Gordon,Ga., where they'll have new handlers. Their replacements already have been trained, Krol said, and will deploy overseas soon.


Staff writer John Ramsey can be reached at ramseyj@fayobserver.com or
486-3574