And Now For Something Different (Soldiers reunion with dog he took bullet for)

[Notch__Johnson]

I figured we could have a nice story to go with our usual blasphemy around here

Dogs are often noted as heroes in the news, but in this case, army dog handler Sgt. Aaron Yoder took a bullet for his black lab, Bart, during a gun fight in Southern Afghanistan last month. The Taliban has begun to target these soldier dogs because of their amazing bomb-sniffing skills in an attempt to neutralize the effectiveness of IED detection teams.

Soldiers have been known to wrap their Kevlar-covered bodies around the dogs to protect these valuable team members. Yoder was shot in the leg, but was successful in protecting Bart from injury. Sgt. Yoder has been transported to Texas, where he has undergone six surgeries. Bart and Aaron were reunited on May 3rd.

http://www.lifewithdogs.tv/2012/05/t...-dog-he-saved/

[rsj0714]

I wonder if he'll get to keep the dog. Who the **** targets a dog? They seriously don't give a **** about animals in Afghanistan, especially dogs.

[az__quattro]

I wonder if he'll get to keep the dog. Who the **** targets a dog? They seriously don't give a **** about animals in Afghanistan, especially dogs.

lol with all the messed up **** going on in 'stan you're surprised about violence against dogs? i do feel slightly bad for the dog since he got shot and didn't even have a choice of going there...

[Egilbe]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-tank_dog

I always thought this was sad and funny. It forced German soldiers to shoot the dogs, too

[rsj0714]

lol with all the messed up **** going on in 'stan you're surprised about violence against dogs? i do feel slightly bad for the dog since he got shot and didn't even have a choice of going there...

Well personally I wouldn't target a dog unless I was being attacked, but I'm no Afghani so **** that hot smelly place.

[rsj0714]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-tank_dog

I always thought this was sad and funny. It forced German soldiers to shoot the dogs, too

It also backfired when the dogs decided to return to their owners.

It turned out to not be such a great idea.

[Notch__Johnson]

I wonder if he'll get to keep the dog. Who the **** targets a dog? They seriously don't give a **** about animals in Afghanistan, especially dogs.

The Taliban has begun to target these soldier dogs because of their amazing bomb-sniffing skills in an attempt to neutralize the effectiveness of IED detection teams.

Makes sense to take out the dogs since theyre so good at detecting IED's

[FigureFive]

The Taliban has begun to target these soldier dogs because of their amazing bomb-sniffing skills in an attempt to neutralize the effectiveness of IED detection teams.

Who the **** targets a dog? They seriously don't give a **** about animals in Afghanistan, especially dogs.

They aren't targeting a dog, they are targeting a a bomb detection machine that happens to be a dog. It makes sense from their perspective to do so.

I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell.

[ABAcabby]

It also backfired when the dogs decided to return to their owners.

It turned out to not be such a great idea.

maybe they should have just pulled a string to detonate

[az__quattro]

Well personally I wouldn't target a dog unless I was being attacked, but I'm no Afghani so **** that hot smelly place.

if you're ok to kill humans for your cause, why stop at dogs? makes no sense.

oh, how i wish our dumb **** politicians would decide to **** that hot smelly place, and all the other ones and stay out.

[cryption]

Don't they eat dog in Afghanistan?

[psbahra]

Don't they eat dog in Afghanistan?

Negative. Dogs are not favoured animals in Islamic culture.

[cryption]

That makes it worse. If it was like us killing a cow ... okay maybe. Killing a dog is like killing a child. I know my dog is smarter than some 1st graders.

[rsj0714]

That makes it worse. If it was like us killing a cow ... okay maybe. Killing a dog is like killing a child. I know my dog is smarter than some 1st graders.

As much as I love dogs most of them are dumb as hell.

[cryption]

My dog knows at least 10 different toys and she knows a lot of words. It's creepy man.

[Lsos2]

That makes it worse. If it was like us killing a cow ... okay maybe. Killing a dog is like killing a child. I know my dog is smarter than some 1st graders.

While I can't agree that a dog is equivalent to a human child (dogs can't even recognize themselves in a mirror), nevertheless if a dog or child is actively participating in a war then he should be expected to be in danger of getting shot.

That said...assuming that it's an evil act to kill a dog/child, who is to blame here? The Afghani for shooting him, or the American for putting him there in the first place? Would you bring your child to fight alongside you in a war?

[derock85z]

While I can't agree that a dog is equivalent to a human child (dogs can't even recognize themselves in a mirror), nevertheless if a dog or child is actively participating in a war then he should be expected to be in danger of getting shot.

That said...assuming that it's an evil act to kill a dog/child, who is to blame here? The Afghani for shooting him, or the American for putting him there in the first place? Would you bring your child to fight alongside you in a war?

..... Only in OT do we have this logic. The dog is supplied by the military, the Sgt is his handler. Their whole job is to sniff out IED's in order to protect caravans of our soldiers. They get targeted by the Taliban first, he protected his dog that is the one sniffing out IED's. we aren't calling into question the motives. he didn't save the dog just because he was attached to his dog, He did it so the dog was still alive to do his job, detect a deadly device we can't.

As a dog lover (and an Army Brat) I'm glad to see a reunion like this, you don't see too many of them turn out ok. No matter what purpose, your dog is your buddy and in a situation like that I'd be happy as can be to have my buddy there.

[20thAna3282]

Show me soldiers returning to family and I smile and think it's nice.

Throw a dog in there whining and jumping with excitement and I blubber like a baby.

[Elbows]

[DIAF]

Show me soldiers returning to family and I smile and think it's nice.

Throw a dog in there whining and jumping with excitement and I blubber like a baby.

This. :lol:

[Notch__Johnson]

Show me soldiers returning to family and I smile and think it's nice.

Throw a dog in there whining and jumping with excitement and I blubber like a baby.

Me too

I like this one because there are TWO and theyre weiner dogs and weiner dogs rock!

[Lsos2]

..... Only in OT do we have this logic. The dog is supplied by the military, the Sgt is his handler. Their whole job is to sniff out IED's in order to protect caravans of our soldiers. They get targeted by the Taliban first, he protected his dog that is the one sniffing out IED's. we aren't calling into question the motives. he didn't save the dog just because he was attached to his dog, He did it so the dog was still alive to do his job, detect a deadly device we can't.

Perhaps you didn't read the posts where people couldn't understand why someone would target a dog, and even went as far as comparing them to children? That's the posts I was responding to, and I wrote nothing contrary to what you wrote.

[JimmyD]

This video is so great... the dog can't contain his joy at the sight of his owner returning home from Afghanistan.

Published on Mar 22, 2012 by Kdaisy84

To say that our boxer, Chuck, was excited to see him come home is an understatement. (And if you're wondering why it says "again" it is because we went through this a year ago as well. That video is also posted.)

[WaWaMKVDub]

Man I love dogs. I would have done the same thing in that situation. Not only because its a dog, but its another soldier. Wish I would have known about this MOS when I joined haha. Would have been a cool experience.

[derock85z]

Perhaps you didn't read the posts where people couldn't understand why someone would target a dog, and even went as far as comparing them to children? That's the posts I was responding to, and I wrote nothing contrary to what you wrote.

Perhaps you didn't read your own post then... What's the bit about who's to blame? That's the one that caught me.

[VarianceVQ]

How I know I'm not a dog person: Taking a bullet for a dog makes no damned sense to me.

[compy222]

How I know I'm not a dog person: Taking a bullet for a dog makes no damned sense to me.

My dog is a member of my family. He gets every protection any person in my family would get...

[Lsos2]

Perhaps you didn't read your own post then... What's the bit about who's to blame? That's the one that caught me.

Again I was responding to the posts that were saying how wrong it is to kill dogs.

ASSUMING that the above is correct (which I'm not saying it is...it's obviously not as black and white as that) who is to blame for the dog getting shot in this situation? The Taliban, for defending themselves, or the American, for bringing a dog into a war zone?

Let me reiterate that in this particular scenario in this particular war, I personally don't think anybody is wrong. They are all just doing the standard things that anybody would do in a war.