Dogs Are Man’s Best Friend  #19

When was the last time you heard the statement, a dog is “man’s best friend”? Do you believe it? Is it true? If so, how can we prove that to be a fact? This blog is far from what I normally write, but something that I read made me think that this is an important topic. It is one that requires a bit of review and soul searching. So, here we go. I hope that once you read it, you will agree that our pets truly are, “man’s best friend”.

In May, I made my annual trip to Washington DC to visit the Maine delegation of Senators and Congressmen and women. I do this every year with a group of folks. During our visit, we were walking by the Senate office buildings, toward our destination at that time, lunch. As we got there, we ran into Congressman, Spencer Baucus from Alabama. Congressman Baucus, is the Chairman of the Financial Services Committee. He stopped and we talked for a while. I noticed that he was carrying several copies of a book called, Lone Survivor, written by Marcus Luttrell. He let us know that the book was about Navy Seals and their plight in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Come to find out afterward, he holds a book club luncheon where they get together and review a certain book every week or so. His comments really intrigued me, in that, on the way home in the D.C. airport; I searched out the book to purchase. Unfortunately, I did not find that particular book, but I did find the second book that Marcus wrote entitled, Service. I read the back and decided to buy it. The book was about the war in both Afghanistan and Iraq and how the Navy Seals operated. It spoke about the battles and about the loss of life. In particular, Marcus wrote about all of the navy seals in his outfit and what happened to them. It was a powerful representation of what we here in the US do not hear about or see. It documented their work and suffering in an effort to keep us here, safe and free. It made me extremely proud of the men and women who risk their lives for us every day. And, yes, we get a small dose of it from the media, but this book opened my eyes to what we do not know or see.

Well, as I got to the middle of the book, there were some photos with captions under them and then he wrote about each and every one. Keep in mind this page in the book, 246. It will have some significance to my writing. As we moved on through the book, I learned about one person in particular named JT Tumilson. He was a Navy Seal in Marcus’s division. He told us that JT was like a brother to him. JT had a brown lab dog that he loved. When JT would go off to deployment, Hawkeye, the dog, would stay with one of the Seals back home. JT and Hawkeye were inseparable when he was home.

Well, Marcus separated from the Navy as a result of injuries he had suffered over time. But shortly after that, Marcus got word that JT had been involved in a firefight while their helicopter was landing on a mountain in Afghanistan. He was one of 30 people on that helo that passed away that day when the helo crashed into that mountain from enemy rocket propelled grenades. As is the custom when a Navy Seal is killed or dies, the entire teams who are back home travel and attend the services. Hawkeye was now with one of the other Navy Seals, one of JT’s best friends who had promised to keep Hawkeye if anything ever happened to JT. Hawkeye attended JT’s funeral that day and was on a leash. The book tells us that as the service was taking place with the casket in the middle of the room at the church, Scott let go of Hawkeye’s leash, and the dog wandered over to the casket and laid down next to it. He laid there for the entire service, never moving.

The local TV station, who was there covering the service caught the entire thing on tape. They could not believe what they had seen. How would a dog know that was his master? Why would he go up in front and just lay quietly next to the casket? The only answer I have is true love for their master. And yes, page 246 of the book had the photo of Hawkeye laying down next to JT. It was so moving to me that I just had to write about it. There has never been any doubt in my mind that a dog, is man’s best friend and they understand and unconditionally give you love each and every day.

And as TC and my family have often expressed, when we lost our precious “Toby”, they are a “Peace” of Heaven.

If you would like to see the video taken that day, here is the link:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/heart-wrenching-image-dog-keeps-watch-over-fallen-seals-casket-during-funeral/