Kentucky
Compassionate soldiers rescue Iraqi dog
May 22, 2007 : 12:00 AM
1-33 Cavalry out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, steps up to save dog.
By Cathy Scott, Best Friends Animal Society
When deployed soldiers with the 1-33 Cavalry of the 101st Airborne Division saw a dog fighting against the current in an irrigation canal along the Syrian border, they came to his rescue. “One guy had a gurney,” said Sgt. Russell Klika, a combat photographer attached to the 133rd National Guard unit out of Nashville, Tennessee.
“They found a rope, they lassoed him and brought him up to shore,” Klika continued. “The dog shook the water off and ran to a field and just dropped, he was so exhausted.”
The soldiers were on a reconnaissance mission at the time, looking for smuggling routes along the Syrian-Iraqi border.
That may sound like an easy task. However, the water rescue took a few hours and included tracking the dog for an entire three miles, as the soldiers, in the infantry unit dubbed the Rakkasans, walked beside the canal, before they eventually were able to bring the stray dog to shore, Klika said.
The soldiers opened packets of MREs – military-issued Meals Ready to Eat – put them on the ground next to the dog, made sure he was OK and that he drank some water, then the unit went on its way.
Klika said the rescue was simply "all in a day's work."
Photo by Sgt. Russell Lee Klika, used with permission by the U.S. Army.
By Cathy Scott, Best Friends Animal Society
When deployed soldiers with the 1-33 Cavalry of the 101st Airborne Division saw a dog fighting against the current in an irrigation canal along the Syrian border, they came to his rescue. “One guy had a gurney,” said Sgt. Russell Klika, a combat photographer attached to the 133rd National Guard unit out of Nashville, Tennessee.
“They found a rope, they lassoed him and brought him up to shore,” Klika continued. “The dog shook the water off and ran to a field and just dropped, he was so exhausted.”
The soldiers were on a reconnaissance mission at the time, looking for smuggling routes along the Syrian-Iraqi border.
That may sound like an easy task. However, the water rescue took a few hours and included tracking the dog for an entire three miles, as the soldiers, in the infantry unit dubbed the Rakkasans, walked beside the canal, before they eventually were able to bring the stray dog to shore, Klika said.
The soldiers opened packets of MREs – military-issued Meals Ready to Eat – put them on the ground next to the dog, made sure he was OK and that he drank some water, then the unit went on its way.
Klika said the rescue was simply "all in a day's work."
Photo by Sgt. Russell Lee Klika, used with permission by the U.S. Army.