He Was Expendable

He Was Expendable

Suzanne Marsh

Fifty years ago, I shipped out to Vietnam as a dog handler. I was assigned to Lucas as his handler; we trained for ten weeks at Fort Benning, Georgia, before shipping out for Da Nang, Vietnam. I was twenty years old in 1968. Vietnam was a wretched place; humidity in the jungles, snakes like the Bamboo Viper, but most of all, it was a lonely place for the American GI. Patrolling in the jungles, I must have walked at least one thousand miles during my tour. None of us wanted to be there, but we did our duty. I was drafted in January of 1968; I did not want to go to Vietnam, but I went where I was sent by the army. I love dogs, and when I was asked if I would like to be a dog handler, my answer was a resounding yes. I remember the day Lucas entered my life; it was toward the end of March. He was a beautiful German Shepherd. He barked and growled at me, but I had a treat in my pocket. I gave it to Lucas; we became the best of friends after that.

The C-140 plane landed at Tan Son Nhut Air Force Base, like all the other Army grunts I hauled my gear off the plane with Lucas in tow. The assignment to a unit took several days. During that time, Lucas and I bonded even more strongly; we became a team. My orders arrived I was assigned to the One Hundred Ninety Sixth Light Infantry Brigade, our patch was burning ropes on dark blue. I began to dread going into combat with Lucas, it would just be he and I out there scouting ahead of the platoon. The following morning, a Chinook awaited Lucas and me, and we jumped in the chopper. I watched the jungle as we flew quickly to the destination. Lucas was assigned a kennel area, and I was now a member of the One Nine Six. The platoon was glad to see us, they had been without a dog and handler for almost a month. While on patrol, I carried an extra canteen and plenty of dog food in my backpack.

The humidity in Vietnam is stifling. On a good day I put on fresh fatigues and began to sweat a river. “Doc” gave me salt pills to be sure I was hydrated. The jungle was lush green; Lucas and I went out on patrol. We walked well ahead of the platoon. Lucas stopped, lifted his ears up straight, then began to sniff something that looked like a hole in the ground. He began to bark, then the bark turned to a low growl. He began to paw the ground, attempting to dig up whatever was there. I signaled silently to the platoon, then returned to Lucas. The Lieutenant came and looked:

“It looks like a tunnel. How deep does it go, Private?” I had no idea:

“I have no idea, sir. Lucas found it. He uncovered something.”

The Lieutenant pulled the rest of the cover off, and there was a tunnel protected by punji sticks and Yellow Bellied Bamboo Pit Vipers. The pit vipers are highly venomous; the Lieutenant was very careful. He marked the location of the tunnel on a map; we then returned to the trail we had been following. “Charlie” was clever when it came to booby traps. It was a smoldering day, the humidity was off the charts; Lucas and I had the point as usual. Lucas came to an abrupt halt; something was terribly wrong. Lucas began to growl low in his throat. I noticed the trip wire, it was a Bamboo Whip, this was one of "Charlie” worst. The Bamboo Whip is a bamboo pole the pole had foot-long spikes. Had I walked into that, it would have killed but thanks to Lucas I was still alive.

There were so many occasions that Lucas saved me. We were on point when Lucas stopped at what looked like a tree stump. I knew better, and so did Lucas. It was a snake pit protected by punji sticks. When a tunnel rat entered there were Yellow Bellied Bamboo Vipers that were extremely venomous. The bite is very painful, and there is a lot of swelling. There was also another snake, the many-banded krait or the “two-step snake.” Take two steps, and you are dead. That was what we were taught; however, in actuality, the many-banded krait bite is relatively painless and most GI’s ignored it when they were bitten. The snake is considered one of the most venomous in Vietnam.

I had a lot of adventures with Lucas on those trails in Vietnam, too many to mention. The first part of my year-long tour, Lucas and I survived by being cautious, and the second part of the tour began with no problems. We walked point everyday, the safety of the entire platoon centered on how well we did our job. “Charlie was busy during this time; snipers had a good kill ratio. Lucas and I were trudging along a jungle trail looking for snakes and trip wires, neither of us noticed the Viet Cong sniper in the tree. The sniper began to shoot at the middle of the platoon. Lucas knew we had to seek shelter, and the platoon began firing. It was a terrible firefight; it wasn’t just one sniper in a tree. It seemed we were surrounded. We fired round and round, attempting to dislodge them. We radioed the battalion, which promised choppers. The Hueys arrived first and began firing into the top of the trees. The Chinooks arrived shortly afterward they were evacuating us from the area. I waved at the guys in the Chinook so they knew our location. Suddenly, I felt a sting. I remember hearing Lucas yelp, and Lucas lying on top of me, protecting me. I lost consciousness; I remember looking up and seeing the sky, and there was blood all over me and Lucas. Lucas was bleeding profusely from the wound in his leg, and our blood mingled in the dirt. I was scared Lucas wasn’t moving, I put a bloodied hand on his side, and he was barely breathing.

I felt around on the ground for my Colt M1911. I had tears in my eyes as I held Lucas close, trying to comfort him as he comforted me. I could hear footsteps and knew the guys from the Chinook were looking for us. I twisted to look at Lucas, and my heart sank. He was so badly wounded that I picked up the M1911 and put him out of his misery. I cried like I had never cried before. he was my friend, the one dependable thing here in Vietnam.

I was evacuated to Da Nang, and my injuries were treated. I had to undergo five surgeries before I was able to walk again. I asked a Chaplain for help, I wanted to bring my dog back home with me. The Chaplain was stunned; he had no experience in a matter such as this. I explained to him how Lucas had saved my life, but I had no idea where his body was. The Chaplain, after hearing the entire story, began digging into what had happened to Lucas. He discovered that one of the Chopper guys had seen us both get wounded; when they evacuated me, there was no way they could take the dog’s body back. A few days later, the man returned to the area and found Lucas’ body. He and several of the crew carried the body to the Chinook. Lucas’ body was a few miles down the road, wrapped in a tarp. The Chaplain went above and beyond the call of duty; he went right to the top, General William Westmoreland. The General listened to our story. Lucas would be coming home with me in a C140.

On a warm October day, Lucas was buried in a small pet cemetery with full military honors. He deserved so much more for saving my life. The thought of having to put him out of his misery made me realize that I did the correct thing. Lucas has his own gravestone, it reads:

Lucas 590 served in Vietnam in 1968.

**writer’s notes**

Lucas was pure fiction however, there were over five thousand dogs that served in Vietnam, most were German Shepherds and Labrador Retrievers. Most of the dogs never came home when the Police Action was over. These courageous animals were considered excess equipment. Some of the dogs were euthanized, some were given to the Vietnamese army, and worse, some were just left to fend for themselves. In 1992, President Bill Clinton signed legislation that ensures ALL MILITARY DOGS are treated like the true veterans they are.