Ace Collins - In the Line of Fire

IN THE LINE OF FIRE

More Abingdon Press Books by Ace Collins

Nonfiction

Mans Best Hero
Service Tails
Music for Your Heart

Fiction

The Fruitcake Murders
Hollywood Lost
The Color of Justice
The Cutting Edge
Darkness Before Dawn
The Christmas Star

DARING STORIES OF MANS BEST HERO

ACE COLLINS

IN THE LINE OF FIRE
DARING STORIES OF MANS BEST HERO

Copyright 2018 by Ace Collins

All rights reserved.
No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission can be addressed to Permissions, The United Methodist Publishing House, 2222 Rosa L. Parks Blvd, Nashville, TN 37228, or emailed to .

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been requested.

978-1-5018-4186-6

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 2610 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Dedicated to Master Sergeant J. C. Burnam, whose service
beside an amazing dog on the battlefields of Vietnam inspired
four decades of work leading to the creation of The National
Military Dog Monument.

There have been dogs on battlefields for thousands of years, but the first modern canine to be recognized as a full military partner by those with whom she served was a Civil War terrier. For four years this small bundle of fur and fire witnessed the horrors of war in some of the most remembered battles in history, and like the nation it changed her. In fact, from mascot to messenger to scout to sentry to sniffer, being in the line of fire dramatically transformed all the canines profiled in this book. It was that transformation that is the foundation for each of these remarkable and inspiring stories.

World War I, then called the Great War, was the first large-scale military operation to employ dogs as soldiers. In the war to end all wars a small mutt proved his courage on the battlefield and taught the world a lesson in loyalty that spanned two continents. In the most pivotal battle of World War I, a collie-greyhound mix gave everything he had to save France and in the process perhaps change the course of the entire war. There is also the all-but-forgotten story of an American soldier who rescued a puppy on a French battlefield. That simple act of compassion impacted the world of entertainment and changed the way dogs were trained in World War II.

Perhaps the books most unlikely hero served with Canadians during the early days of World War II, while the most unusual and unexpected profile found in these pages is an Asian-born English Pointer that became the worlds only official canine prisoner of war. Then there is the German shepherd born between French and German lines that flew on bombing runs with the United Kingdoms Royal Air Force.

Dogs were all but dismissed by the military when the Korean conflict broke out but a German shepherd that joined a legendary American unit would not only save hundreds of lives but also make such a huge impact that his service inspired an episode of the famed television series M*A*S*H. That canine hero also helped develop training methods used to educate thousands of dogs that served in Vietnam. While the canine heroes in that war performed gallantly and saved thousands of lives, they also suffered an unimaginable fate that still haunts many military veterans who once called these dogs partners. One of the canines profiled in these pages escaped that destiny while another did not.

The final two featured dogs, a springer spaniel and a German shepherd mix, have proved that canines are even more important in the technological age than they were a hundred years ago. Thousands of recent combat vets can attest that perfection is not just a military goal but, as seen in the service records of these two dogs, can actually become a reality.

From the Civil War to today the dogs featured in the pages of In the Line of Fire share a common thread: each exceeded expectations while adapting to unexpected situations. In doing so they proved the unimagined potential of Gods most noble and loyal creation. These stories also seem to demonstrate that if mankind were more like mans best friend, there would be no need for military dogs as there likely would be no wars. But as long as men and women stand in the line of fire, surely a dog will be there too.

Heroism is endurance for one moment more.

George F. Kennan

While dogs in our modern world fill many roles, a majority are still just pets and therefore their duties and responsibilities pale in comparison to what was expected by dog owners 170 years ago. In the middle of the nineteenth century, for those living outside cities, canines were indispensable. In reality, the dog was perhaps the most important family tool. It was not as much a pet as it was a sentry, hunter, herder, and defender. During an era when almost every rural family saw a dog as essential, it is interesting that canines served no official purpose in the military. It would take more than seven decades before dog training became a part of the military. Yet that didnt keep a feisty terrier out of one of the bloodiest battles in the American Civil War or prevent her from being recognized and saluted by the nations most revered leader. To fully grasp the unlikely dynamics that brought this story to life, one first has to understand history as it unfolded.

By 1860, in the then not-so-United States, trouble had been brewing for more than a decade. But the event that set the stage for the breaking of a union was the election of Abraham Lincoln as president. In November the tall man from Illinois won the popular and electoral vote over a trio of competitors: John C. Breckinridge, John Bell, and Stephen Douglas. With Lincoln readying to take over the nations highest office, those pushing for an end to slavery finally felt as if they had a strong and willing leader in power. Yet it was the fear that Lincoln would act quickly to emancipate the slaves that also created an environment where many in the South vowed to walk away from a nation that refused to recognize individual states rights to determine whether one man could legally own another. While the newly elected president pushed for an understanding between the two factions, many in the media and in government deemed the nation already irrevocably broken. So in early 1861, even though few could fathom the deadly consequences that soon would drench American soil in blood, a clock was ticking, driven by moral choices that seemed to be anchored in stone. Soon that clock would hit the zero hour and when it did the country would blow up.

On February 8, 1861, a full month before Lincoln was sworn in, the slave-holding states officially left the union and announced the formation of the Confederate States of America. Not unexpectedly the government of the United States did not recognize this new governing body. Yet war didnt break out immediately. Over the next few months, as the nation teetered on the brink of armed conflict, somehow, amid the fiery rhetoric, cooler heads prevailed. Thus many in the new presidents administration actually believed the seceding states could be wooed back into the union without a single shot being fired. But those hopes were finally and forever dashed on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina. For the next four years it would be brother against brother and father against son as more men died in combat than during any other American conflict.