 Memorials
to Fallen K-9s 2005 page 12 The F.A.S.T. Co. donates sets of memorial cards to all partners I need your help to inform me of such losses. |
Dept. addresses available for those who want to send condolences to officers. See below
| In Loving Memory of K-9 SUSIE May 20, 2005  Partner: Deputy Greg Amo Linn County Sheriff's Dept. 1115 Jackson St. S.E. Albany, Oregon 97322 ph:? and ck. address   |
Memorial for Susie
Rescued as a pup from a shelter by a K9 handler, Susie didn't begin her career as a drug detection K9 until age five. But once she began, she had a great career. Starting with the Gooding County Sheriff's Office, Susie demonstrated that she was a fantastic dog. She began with a couple of short term handlers and then spent some time with Deputy Chris Ward. With the assignment of a new K9, Susie was retired. It was then that Deputy Greg Amo asked about reassigning Susie to him. Amo was the School Resource Officer and thought that Susie would have an prevention influence on the students of his schools. He was right. In fact, one student stopped with drugs and paraphernalia in his car stated that he took it all out before he started the week of school and then put it back for the weekend because he knew Susie would find it in his car if he took it to school. The same was true for lockers and the frequency of drugs kept at school dropped. However, Susie's influence on students reached far deeper than just drug prevention. In a letter to the sheriff, an elementary principal said, "I observed Susie work her "magic" in a situation where a student was in trouble and quite angry. He would not speak to anyone and was extremely agitated. When Deputy Amo and Susie came into the room, the student calmed down quite rapidly and he was soon petting and talking to Susie. Other students have since come to the office expressly looking for Susie. She is a big hit in our building." In another incident, a middle school student with mental problems had become extremely agitated, had run from teachers and staff, and had climbed into the rafters. The rafters were exposed beams 35 feet above a concrete floor. The student would not come down and stood mumbling. When Deputy Amo and Susie arrived, the child was in danger of falling or jumping to his death. As Deputy Amo began talking to the child, he could see that the child was looking at Susie. Using that interest, Deputy Amo enticed the child out of the rafters with the idea of petting Susie. The child came down, hugged Susie 's neck and was taken to safety. Susie found many hidden drugs and narcotics, working in two states and with many agencies. She was frequently called to assist the interagency narcotics team in Albany, Oregon where she and Deputy Amo worked with the Linn County Sheriff's Office. Her final two drug busts involved drugs that had been smuggled into the jail. Two inmates had hidden drugs in their body cavities. During the search, the inmates were removed from the jail pod and Susie was brought in to search. She hit on the stainless steel seats and concrete stools where the inmates had been sitting. The corrections deputies then did a body cavity search and discovered the drugs. Susie was a great drug detection K9, but she was best
known wherever she went as a loving dog. She was happiest when being
loved and petted, whether by the toughest deputy or ten of the smallest
children. After nearly seven years as her handler, I can honest say,
she was my friend.
Deputy Greg Amo
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| In Loving Memory of K-9 REX May 26, 2005  Partner: Officer Louis Linn Kenner Police Dept. 1801 Williams Blvd. Kenner, LA 70062 (504) 712-2222 or 911 Chief of Police Nick Congemi 504 712-2200 |
I am sad to advise you of the untimely
death of one of our canines (K-9 Rex) on 5/26/05. Officer Louis Linn of
the Kenner Police Department in Kenner, La was his handler. Officer
Linn and K-9 Rex attended the NPCA 2004 Nationals in Pasadena Tx and
placed in Narcotics Detection. The cause of death is unknown at this
time. I am still waiting on the report from Louisiana State University.
I ask that all of you keep Officer Linn, his wife and two young boys in
your prayers. As canine handlers, we all know how our partners become
part of our family. In addition to that, Officer Linn's 7 year old son
is the one that discovered Rex in his kennel. If you would like to drop
Officer Linn a line his e-mail address is tlinn1@cox.net. submitted by: Ron Labarriere |
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| In Loving Memory of MWD K-9 "ANGEL" (don't know real name yet) May xx 2005  Partner: Chief Warrant Officer Peter Zorba Squadron HMM-764 "The Moonlighters" Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2005 1:53 PM Subject: FW: K-9 Killed in Combat submitted by Dale Warke
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We waited. Five minutes. Ten minutes. After 15 minutes, with still no sign of anyone, or any dogs, the crew began to grow a little uneasy: "We're here, where the hell are they?" "Goddamnit. Who the * is running this place." "Do you see anybody, gunner?" "Negative, sir." "* If we don't see anybody soon, let's get dash 2 out of here, so at least there's only one of us on the deck here in case we take incoming. You copy that (call sign)." "Roger that. Copy all." Just then a door of a small industrial looking building about a hundred meters away, opened and I could see Marines moving awkwardly towards us. They were carrying their rifles with their outside hands and with the inside hand, each held the edge of a body bag. Behind them followed another Marine with a shouldered rifle, MOLLIE pack, and his hands were on the back of the bag. But this Marine's hands held the trailing edge of the body bag more like a priest would grasp a holy cloth or a child, his mother's hem, not really supporting any weight, just holding on. As they loaded the body bag into our bird, I took the young Marine's pack and stowed it and then got him buckled in. The wounded K-9 and his handler were loaded into dash 2, and I sat back down behind my .50 cal and called us clear of wires and trees as we lifted into the night sky. Once airborne, and on the go, out of the cultural lighting from over the town, I looked back to see a big Marine, head in his hands, sitting in darkness, bent over the body of his dog. That was a long flight. My pilot, a battle-hardened colonel, kept asking me "How's our boy doing?" as if he were a worried parent checking on his child. He handed me back a small package of chocolate chip cookies he'd been saving for the return to base. "G! ive 'em to our boy. He's had a rough day of it." I unhooked my gunner's belt and walked back to the young man. I put my hand on his shoulder, handed him the cookies and patted him on the back, smiling some compassionate, but dumb, smile there in the dark, 300' somewhere over Iraq. What else can you do? When we touched back down at our base, the passenger/cargo terminal sent a vehicle out for the dogs. I helped the Marine with his gear, out away from our rotor arc, and then ran back up the ramp and into our bird just in time to grab one of the terminal guys as he was reaching for the body of our Marine, thinking it was just another piece of gear. "Hey man - what the * are you doing?!" I yelled over the engine noise. "Leave him alone. We'll get him." The crew chief and I reverently bent over and gently lifted the body bag and carried it out of our plane. I have carried body bags before here, and I was sur! prised by how light this one was. I placed my arms under the dog's body and gently set him down in the vehicle. And then, out of sheer habit, I petted the poor pup on the shoulder * or maybe it was his hip. His body was still soft, even inside the thick black polyethylene bag. As I turned to head back to my plane, I was face to face with the fallen Marine's master. The young corporal looked at me, he had seen me pet his dog, and I like to think he saw how reverently we carried his fallen comrade's body out of the plane, but maybe not. Red eyes and a sad, exhausted face were eclipsed by a smile of gratitude as he shook my hand and mouthed the words "thank you." Then he was gone and we were back on the plane and set to lift. Once back on our line after we had shut down, we all sat down in the back. It was quiet and no one really spoke until the colonel asked, "Did you take care of our boy?! Was he hurting too bad? Did you do right by the pup? Did we treat them both with the respect and honor they deserved?" "Yes sir." I replied last year while we were here, the brevity code for friendly KIA was "Angels." I don't know what it is this time for OIF III, but it is a very fitting term. So I told the colonel "Yes, sir, the 'Angel' was carried with respect, and treated with dignity and compassion, as was his handler." The colonel liked this and we all agreed that the dog was a Marine * as much as any of us. But on another level, that kid had not only lost his partner, but he'd lost his dog, a dog that I am sure he loved and that loved him back. That had touched us all deep down somewhere, where you're still a kid yourself. We were proud to have been able to do what we did for this fellow Marine, this 'Angel', and each of us would willingly do it again any time. That's what Marines do. I guess what I am saying is that we continually hear the question asked, "Why we are here?" I heard a Marine say yesterday, "Don't ask me why I am here. I don't make our country's policy, I execute policy." I guess to me "why" is not really that important. What is important is 'how' I am here. To me, this story illuminates that "how," by showing the nature of the Corps that makes Marines what they are, and in turn, is made what it is by the Marines devoted to it and to each other. I am part of an organization that believed it was important enough to send two helicopters and their crews, into harms way in order to retrieve the body of one of its fallen. It made no difference that the Marine killed in action was a dog and not a man, what does matter is that each one of us involved felt the same. To us, not only was it a warranted and reasonable utilization of Marines, Marine Corps ! assets and resources, but the risk to eight Marines and two aircraft was far outweighed by a pervading sense of honor, commitment and espirit de corps. Why else am I here, if not to go get a boy and his dog - both of whom are fellow Marines. Few things here have been as important as that mission to me, and to my crew as well. That's "how" we are. Semper, Peter ****************************** FOLLOW UP: A Fallen Marine: BlackFive has a story about a fallen K-9 Marine, and his escort out. When a Marine dog dies, he isn't buried in some shallow ditch, as a dog might be. I am part of an organization that believed it was important enough to send two helicopters and their crews, into harms way in order to retrieve the body of one of its fallen. It made no difference that the Marine killed in action was a dog and not a man, what does matter is that each one of us involved felt the same.The Air Force treats its dogs well, too. I would be surprised to discover that any American military unit did not. It is a high demonstration of the civilization we defend, and of why it is worth defending. |
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