Theo and Liam to be repatriated together
Stories like this always tear me up.
A dog handler and his springer spaniel, who died within hours of each other in Afghanistan, are to be flown home to Britain together.
Lance Corporal Liam Tasker was shot dead on Tuesday while the pair were on patrol in southern Helmand province. His spaniel Theo died of a seizure shortly afterwards.
The Ministry of Defence said on Friday the 22-month-old dog’s ashes would be brought back to Britain on the same flight as L/Cpl Tasker.
“A dog can not be repatriated, but they will be returned to the UK on the same day, in the same plane,” a defence department spokesman said.
They will be flown into RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire next week.
Three weeks ago, Theo had been praised by the Ministry of Defence for finding 14 hidden bombs and weapons caches in just five months – a record for a dog and handler.
The spaniel, on his first tour of duty in Afghanistan, had uncovered so many improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that his time in the country was extended by a month.
I remember when I was in Bosnia AFRTS always had those “commercial” things that weren’t really commercials. I always wondered what folks who knew nothing about the military would think if they saw them, as they were always of the “don’t drink too much”, “don’t beat your wife”, “don’t go heavily in debt” sort of thing. But one stood out to me, about a dog that lost his owner. I looked it up a few months ago, and from wiki I found this:
In 1924, Hidesabur? Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo took in Hachik? as a pet. During his owner’s life Hachik? greeted him at the end of the day at the nearby Shibuya Station. The pair continued their daily routine until May 1925, when Professor Ueno did not return. The professor had suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage and died, never returning to the train station where Hachik? was waiting. Every day for the next nine years the golden brown Akita waited at Shibuya station.
Hachik? was given away after his master’s death, but he routinely escaped, returning again and again to his old home. Eventually, Hachik? apparently realized that Professor Ueno no longer lived at the house. So he went to look for his master at the train station where he had accompanied him so many times before. Each day, Hachik? waited for the return of his owner.
The permanent fixture at the train station that was Hachik? attracted the attention of other commuters. Many of the people who frequented the Shibuya train station had seen Hachik? and Professor Ueno together each day. They brought Hachik? treats and food to nourish him during his wait.
Apparently they made a movie, but I haven’t seen it:
Anyway, I hope Liam and Theo are together now in the land of eternal sunshine.
Category: Politics
I was raised on the story of Greyfriars Bobby,
http://www.findoutaboutdogs.com/Greyfriars_Bobby.html
No doubt others are familiar with the story about the little terrier. And oh ya, 4 decades after first watching it I still tear up at the end of Old Yeller, so sue me.
Thanks for this TSO.
True story,
My aunt and uncle’s next door neighbor has a “sweet as pie” Black Lab. The lab belonged originally to the neighbor directly across the street. They were a somewhat disfunctional family and the wife and kids didn’t like the dog. The kids were routinely mean to the poor pooch but the husband loved the dog and they were best buds. The dog would sit at the end of the driveway everyday at dinnertime waiting for the husband to come home from work and he always spent time playing with the dog. Sadly, the husband commited suicide and the remainder of the family completely ignored the dog which is how my aunt and uncle’s next door neighbor took the dog in. The rest of the family moved away, without the dog. To this day, some 4 years later, the dog still waits at the end of the driveway at dinner time for a half hour or so. I’ve watched him do it a number of times…
TSO,I saw the movie, Hachiko: A Dog’s Story, about 3 or 4 months ago. I can’t remember if it was on satellite or netflix but it was a pretty good movie. Apparently Hachiko waited at the train station for his ‘master’ and finally died there, still waiting. They put up a statue of the dog at the train station. Pretty touching movie.
Another true story:
When I was about 10, we lived in a suburb that had a sweeping curve in the road I walked to school. On the end of the curve closest to my return route home was a house that had a beautiful Boxer. He would always lay in the yard and watch as cars and kids went by; one day, when I walked by, I spoke to him. He got up and came to me, and very solemnly walked me the rest of the way home, then promptly returned to his own. From then on, each day that I walked home from school, he would meet me by his yard, and walk me to mine. I never saw him chase a car, or walk with any other kids; just me. I never learned the dog’s name or met his owner. He wouldn’t come to me at any other time, just when I walked home from school. He did that until we moved, and I never saw the dog again.
In the 70s, a guy went to the Moscow airport with his German Shepard. At the time, passengers would walk to the airplane and then climb the mobile stairs into the plane. At the bottom of the mobile stairs, the guy was told that because the Shepard did not have a proper muzzle, he could not be taken on the plane. The guy uncliped the leash and walked up the stairs into the plane, alone. The German Shepard was left on the tarmac. For the next 7 years this Shepard had been living on the grassy edge of the tarmac where that airplane was took its passenger. The airport crews try to scare it away, catch him and send him away, but to no avail. To the credit of the airport administration, nobody ordered to shoot the nuisance dog. The pilots and the cabin crews would always bring him food and water. The owner never came back even after the story of this German Shepard appeared on TV during “Vremja”. Many people wanted to adopt the German Shepard after the reportage but he would always come back to that grassy edge of the tarmac… If I remember correctly, his new and last owner simply allowed him to come there and then would come for him after a couple of hours…
Saw this when it popped up. Did a FB thing about it simply because it needed further attention.
Thanks for expanding the view.
What I don’t get is that you see beautiful examples of love and loyalty like these and then you see people abusing their pets. Why do people do that? These animals are gorgeous creatures that complete our lives in immeasurable ways. Asking for so little and giving us so much.
Like a bike with a bent rim, some folks are just ethicaly broken.
These dog/animal stories always choke me up