Another Place Another Time - Episode 7

Another Place Another Time

the serialization of the novel

Book One

Jake and Whispers

Episode Seven

“Before you get too carried away, let me point out a couple of items that I haven’t mentioned.”

“What are those, Sir?”

“First, you won’t be reducing your risk of being killed by becoming a scout dog handler. In fact, you will probably be increasing it. However, you will be working chiefly with dogs. The few people you will have to work with will be people just like yourself.”

“I understand, Sir. And I want to do it. Boy, do I ever want to do it.”

“Well, there’s one other point that might change your mind. Your active duty service commitment is two years. Because Airborne, Ranger, and Dog Handler training combined will take over six months, you’ll have to extend your service commitment by twelve months, before you can even put in your applications for the three schools. If you wash out of any of the courses, you’ll still have to serve the extra year. Are you still sure that you want to do it?”

“Yes, Sir, I want to do it more than I’ve ever wanted to do anything.”

“There are two more items you need to know, and you’d better think seriously about both of them. First, it took you sixteen weeks to finish Basic Training, and I use the word ‘finish’ loosely. That doesn’t look great in your personnel record. To be approved for Airborne and Ranger training you have to change your ways and you have to change right now. You can’t even be average for the next eight weeks of AIT, you have to be great. I know you can do it. My question is will you do it?”

“You can count on it, Sir. And, Sir, I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to show me the dogs,” I blurted.

“Hold it, Leonard, let me finish. Remember, I said there were two more points. Here’s the second one. Your dog is going to become your best friend; in fact, your dog is going to become the center of your life, period. Do you understand?”

I said, “Yes, Sir, I understand. I don’t see how it could be any other way.”

“Then, here’s the last bit of information you need to know, and I promise, this is the last one. Your tour in Vietnam will end after you’ve been there twelve months. However, officially, your dog’s tour will not end.”

I almost shouted, “What? My dog won’t be coming home with me? That’s not right…”

Captain Kennedy raised his hand. I shut up and he said, “Just listen another minute.”

I nodded, remaining silent.

Captain Kennedy looked at me before continuing, “Good, that’s better. Remember what I said…your dog’s tour will not officially end. I got to know several handlers and their dogs when I was in Vietnam, and I noticed that when the handlers went home, their dogs immediately disappeared. They weren’t put down, and they weren’t assigned to different handlers; they simply disappeared. I asked their Company Clerk about it, and, he said, ‘Captain, all I can tell you is this, the dogs finished their tour and they left.’” Then he grinned and said, “And, they’re all doing fine.”

Captain Kennedy watched me closely, trying to figure out what I was thinking. Finally, seeing nothing to give away my thoughts he said, “It is clear to me, that when a man loves a dog the way handlers love their dogs, they figure out a way to get them home. I don’t know what that way is, but I do know, in my gut, that if you want to bring your dog home with you, and, Leonard, you will, there are ways to make that happen. You’ll discover those ways after you’ve been in country for a while.”

Captain Kennedy paused, and then said, “That’s the whole story, Leonard, all of it. Do you still want to do it?”

I’m sure my eyes lit up when I said, “I still want to do it more than anything in the world.”

Captain Kennedy laughed, “Remember that during the next eight weeks of Advanced Infantry Training. Then remember it two weeks later when you jump out of a perfectly good airplane. Remember it a few months from now when you’re lying in a stagnant, smelly, swamp about fifteen miles from here, and the night is so black you can’t see your hands in front of your face, and the mosquitoes sound like small airplanes, and suddenly a machine gun starts firing over your head, and artillery simulators begin exploding all round you. Remember those words then, Leonard.”

Captain Kennedy paused for a long time before he continued. “And, Leonard, remember those words when a year or so from now, you find yourself lying in a rice paddy, with your dog lying beside you, both of you too afraid to breathe because you’re alone, and there is a company of Viet Cong moving along a supply trail less than a hundred feet away from you. Remember those words then, Leonard, and stay real quiet until Charlie has cleared the area.”

I laughed. “I will Captain…I will.”

For a long time neither of us said anything, then I said, “Captain.”

“Yes, Leonard.”

“Captain, if I come home from Vietnam, my dog will come with me.”

Captain Kennedy looked at me and said, “Leonard, I never doubted it for a second.”

I post two episodes of Another Place Another Time every week

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Currently I'm working on The Mystic Trilogy - the first volume - The Sages - is posted weekly - click here to read the latest and all previous episodes.

Another Place Another Time - Episode Six

Another Place Another Time

The serialization of the novel.

Book One

Jake and Whispers

Episode Six

We rode in silence for a few minutes, then the Captain said, “Leonard, let me get this all said before you ask any questions. When I’m done, you can ask anything that you want. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Sir, that’s perfectly clear.”

“Leonard, I suspect that you’ve had more “heart-to-heart” talks than you can remember. I also suspect that you don’t pay much attention to them. If you don’t listen to what I’m going to tell you this afternoon or if you don’t pay attention to how you feel when you see what I’m about to show you, then you just might be making a mistake that could well be the end of you. Do you understand?”

Captain Kennedy took his eyes off the road and glanced toward me. I nodded.

Satisfied that I was listening, really listening, he continued, “I went to Vietnam without a clue. Within hours of arriving, I realized that America shouldn’t be there. The domino theory and the so-called threat to American freedom is a sham, perpetrated for political and economic reasons. Leonard, the men and women who are serving in Vietnam believe they are doing it to protect democracy, when in fact they are only keeping a handful of politicians in power and fueling the Gross National Product. On the other hand, the Vietnamese are fighting to reunite their country. Vietnam isn’t two countries in the minds of the Vietnamese. It’s two countries, because France couldn’t control the northern half, and most of what they wanted to take from Vietnam is in the south. Therefore, they drew an arbitrary line across the country and called it two countries. The Vietnamese have defeated China many times, as well as Genghis and Kublai Khan, Japan, and France; and, they are going to defeat us. Now, here is the point of the history lesson, there is nothing you, Leonard Jacobson, can do about the war, but there is something you can do about your part in it. That’s what you have to address and nothing else.”

I nodded silently as the Captain slowed the Jeep and then turned right onto a narrow road that seemed to end in a grove of pine trees. “Leonard, if you don’t do something right now, you are going to Vietnam as an infantryman. Trust me; you don’t want to do that for reasons you don’t want to discover in Vietnam.”

Captain Kennedy pulled off onto the shoulder, though it appeared there had been no traffic on the road for a long time. He said, “I’m stopping because I want to finish this before we get to the unit.”

I nodded, and he continued, “Because you spent so much time in Basic Training and now you’re assigned to an Advanced Infantry Training Company, the only jobs choices you have left are infantry, or infantry related. However, there is one that, even though it is an infantry job, is different from all other infantry jobs. Frankly, it’s the one that I wish I’d known about before I signed up for the Transportation Branch; and it’s the one that I’m convinced you’re going to want to do. That job is Scout Dog Handler.”

He started the Jeep and pulled back on to the road. Neither of us spoke. We rounded an easy curve, and I saw a group of buildings nestled in the pines. One of the buildings was a two-story, World War II barracks building, just like the one I had lived in at Basic Training, and identical with the one I’d moved into earlier in the afternoon. Beside the barracks was a single story building that was a combination orderly room, supply room, dispensary, and mess hall. Behind those two buildings was a long low one, surrounded by a chain-link fence. “What’s the building behind the barracks?” I asked.

Captain Kennedy grinned, “That’s the kennel. It’s where the dogs live. They are the reason we are here. I’m going to show you the place, and then I’ll tell you about it on the way back to our company area.”

A young Second Lieutenant greeted Captain Kennedy when we walked into the orderly room. “Is this the man you called about, Sir?” he asked.

“That’s right.” Captain Kennedy pointed through the window toward the kennels, “It looks like everyone is out on an exercise.”

“Yes, Sir, they won’t be back until after dark. However, we do have seven new dogs in the kennel and a couple of ‘trainees’ that have minor injuries that have them sidelined for a few days. You’re welcome to visit them. Everything is open. Take your time.”

We walked the pine-needle-covered path from the Orderly Room to the kennel in silence. I should say we walked most of the way in silence. We were fifty feet from the kennel when Captain Kennedy said, “Slow down, Leonard. They’ll wait on you.”

I had almost been running without even realizing it. We both laughed, and I managed to slow to a walk. The nine dogs in the kennel were German Shepherds, one of them was solid black, and the other eight were the more common tan and black. I fell hopelessly in love the minute I saw them. They were all great, but I have to admit the black one was my favorite.

“Where do they come from?” I asked.

The Captain laughed, “That was my first question, too. Individual owners, veterinarians, shelters, and pounds all over the country donate them. Those selected for the training are the cream of the crop, so are their handlers. They are also mavericks.”

“The dogs or the handlers, Captain?”

Captain Kennedy laughed, “Both.”

I was playing with the black one when I asked, “What makes them mavericks, Sir?”

The Captain said, “Look in that dog’s eyes, Leonard.”

I held the dog’s head in my hands and looked into his eyes. He returned my stare without turning away or showing any discomfort at all. I felt like he was looking into my soul. After what seemed to be minutes, but was probably only thirty seconds, I broke eye contact and began playing with him again. As I petted him, I asked Captain Kennedy, “What does that mean?”

“I don’t think anyone knows for sure Leonard, but it is one of the key tests for finding out if a dog qualifies for the training. That sounds like voodoo, but it has proven to be reliable. I think it shows high intelligence, but more than that, I think it is also a mark of loyalty, trust, and dedication. All of those traits are essential for scout dogs and for their handlers. That’s what I meant when I said both the dogs and the handlers are mavericks.”

We played with the dogs for more than an hour, though it seemed like only a few minutes. On the way back I was so excited I couldn’t stop babbling, something unheard-of for me. “Sir, being a scout dog handler is the most exciting job I’ve seen in the Army. Heck, it’s the most exciting job I’ve ever seen. I don’t know what a handler does, but I know I want to be one.”

Captain Kennedy held up his hand stopping my word barrage mid-sentence. “I know how you feel. That’s just the way I felt when I met the scout dogs and their handlers in Vietnam. When I looked at your personnel file, I knew you’d feel the same.”

He paused until he was sure that he had my full attention, then he continued, “I have meetings scheduled for the rest of the day, and tomorrow will be the first day of your advanced infantry training. We will not have a chance to talk again for a while. That’s why it’s important that you listen carefully to what I’m going to tell you, that is, if you want to go to Vietnam as a Scout Dog Handler, rather than an infantryman.”

I’ve never listened more carefully to anyone than I listened to Captain Kennedy for the next twenty minutes. “Sentry dogs and their handlers patrol all major compounds in Vietnam,” he explained. He said that if I applied for sentry dog handler training, I’d wind up on a list that was so long I wouldn’t have a chance of reaching the top.

I asked him why that list was so long, and he explained that sentry dog handler trainees needed no pre-training or qualifying. Individuals selected went to sentry dog handler school directly from basic training. Then he looked at me and said, “Leonard, there is nothing wrong with doing it that way, however, because it’s easy, that list is long.”

He said the other two jobs that Army dogs and handlers did were scout and tracker work for infantry units. He noted there were far more scout dogs and handlers than tracker teams.

“That’s why I recommend that you apply for Scout Dog Handler Training. Now, here’s the important point for you to know. Almost all the scout dog handlers that come here directly from Basic Training, enlisted for the job, which means they have a three-year service commitment, rather than the two-year commitment of a draftee like you. You cannot change the fact that you are a draftee, but you can qualify for the Scout Dog Training by qualifying as a LURP (Long Range Recon Patrol), because the scout dogs and handlers work mainly with LURPS. That means you have two schools to go to before you go to the Scout Dog Training School. First, you’ll go to Airborne Training and then you’ll go to Ranger Training. Neither of those schools is easy, but, if you make it through them, your application for Scout Dog Training will be approved.”

We drove for a half minute or so and he added, “Leonard, right now we have over a half million troops in Vietnam. Less than two hundred of them are Scout Dog Handlers. That’s an exclusive group. Everyone in it earned the right to be there, and they will all tell you that it is more than worth the effort. If you don’t wash out in Airborne or Ranger training, in less than six months you’ll come back here, to the kennel, where you’ll meet your partner…”

“Partner?”

“Your dog will be your partner. You’ll train together, and you’ll go to Vietnam together. What do you think?”

“I want to do it, Sir. Whatever it takes, I want to do it.”

“Are you sure about that, Leonard?”

“Yes, Sir, without a doubt.”

I post two episodes of Another Place Another Time every week.

To have each episode delivered directly to your Kindle click here

Or, if you don't want to wait - click here to purchase the Kindle version of the book

Currently I'm working on The Mystic Trilogy - the first volume - The Sages - is posted in serialized form - click here to read the latest and all previous episodes.

Another Place Another Time - Episode 5

Another Place Another Time

Book One

Jake and Whispers

Episode Five

Three minutes later we were blasting out of the Company parking lot in Captain Kennedy’s Jeep. We drove for a while before he began talking. When he finally spoke, his voice was clear above the sound of the wind around the open Jeep, but not loud. “Leonard, you’re eighteen years old, and I’m twenty-three. The difference between us is four years of college and one year in Vietnam. I looked at your 201 File after you signed in, and I got the idea that just maybe you’d listen to some advice. Since you don’t know yet what it is, I’m not going to ask you if you will follow it or not. On the other hand, since you’re a Private and I’m your Company Commander, you will at least listen to me.” He laughed, and I did too.

“Leonard, I have a B.A. in Education. All I’ve ever wanted to do is teach. I grew up on a farm, the youngest of four kids. There is less than a year’s age difference between each of the four of us. That meant, when I graduated from high school, my two brothers and my sister were in college. Even though they were each working one or two jobs, and they had a couple of partial scholarships among them, it wasn’t enough to pay all of their costs. All the extra money the farm made went to them. There was no money left for me, and, yet, I wanted to go to college in the worst way. The Army offers full, four-year scholarships to those who qualify scholastically and are willing to make a six-year commitment to the service. That commitment, by the way, begins after graduation from college. Five years ago no one had heard of Vietnam, so the Army seemed like a perfect way for me to go to college.”

I nodded in agreement, and we rode in silence for a while before he continued. Finally, he said, “I heard the word ‘Vietnam’ for the first time in my junior year. When I graduated, I knew I was going to go there. I chose the Transportation Branch with the idea that I would be safe, or at least safer, as a Transportation Officer. I guess I was safer than I would have been in the Infantry, but the truth is, there are no safe tours in Vietnam.”

I nodded and he continued, “My Company was part of the 25th Infantry Division, based in Chu Chi, about twenty miles from Saigon. While I was there, I came to know the Company Commander of the Scout Dog Detachment. That’s why we are talking now. I’m taking you to the U.S. Army Scout Dog Training Center. You’ll meet some of the personnel, but my intent is for you to meet some of the dogs. Then I’m going to tell you about Scout Dogs and the Army, and I’m going to give you some advice. What you do with it is up to you.”

He paused, glanced at me, and continued, “You see, Leonard, you have some choices in front of you, and, you can trust me on this, not going to Vietnam isn’t one of them. You are going to Vietnam. Your choices are about how you go. Do you understand what I’ve said so far?”

“Yes, Sir, I do, but why dogs?”

Captain Kennedy smiled and asked, “Do you like dogs, Leonard?”

“Yes, Sir, I love dogs. In fact, if I had to pick between a dog and most people I know, I’d take the dog every time.”

“Well, Leonard, that ought to make it obvious why I’m talking to you about dogs.”

“I understand, Sir. But, how did you know that I liked dogs?”

Captain Kennedy didn’t say anything for a moment. He considered his words carefully, and then he said, “There’s nothing in your records that says you like dogs. However, as I looked through your file, I realized that it could almost have been my file.” He paused, glanced at me, and then added, “Except for the sixteen weeks of Basic Training.” We both laughed.

Then he said, “Leonard, I love dogs, and I just knew that you did too. I can’t tell you how I knew you liked dogs, any more than you can tell me how you know everything that you know. In fact, I think that we probably agree on many things, and I think we are alike in more ways than we’re not alike, but talking about them isn’t what this afternoon is all about.”

As he turned off the main road onto a narrow two-lane strip of asphalt, he said, “For the next couple of hours, I want you to pretend that I’m your older brother. You’ll have to work at that since you’re an only child, but you can do it.”

We laughed again, and then he continued. “Leonard, I know you’re not bucking the Army, at least, not in the usual ways that people buck it. And, somewhere at the heartless core of itself, the Army knows that too, or else it would have spit you out by now. Instead, it has allowed you to disrupt the normal flow of events, something it almost never allows to happen. The Amy has tolerated you for a reason, and that reason is you have something it values above all else…you are a natural leader.”

He paused to let his words sink in. After a few seconds he continued, “I know something about you though, something the Army doesn’t know. You’re never going to lead men, at least not directly, the way the Army would like for you to. You might be an officer, but I doubt it. More than likely you will be an NCO, a Sergeant or a Corporal, and even then, you’ll not have a squad or a platoon for which you are accountable. I know that most of this doesn’t make sense to you right now. Just trust me, and listen to everything I have to say. In time, you’ll understand.”

I knew that I was hearing straight talk, straighter than any I had ever heard. That’s why I listened to everything Captain Kennedy told me that afternoon, and, in time, I understood it all and a whole lot more.

Another Place Another Time

Book One

Jake and Whispers

Episode Four

Basic Training normally takes eight weeks. I spent 16 weeks in Basic Training. I wasn’t sick; in fact, I never missed a day of training. I wasn’t stupid; my test scores easily qualified me for OCS (Officer Candidate School). Even though the possibility of being an officer held no appeal for me, my test scores mandated that I listen to the OCS recruiting talk, not once, but many times.

I wasn’t a disciplinary problem, at least not in the conventional sense of the word. In fact, in four years in the Army I didn’t receive so much as a single Article 15, which is the most minor official disciplinary action.

Despite that, I completed an extra eight weeks of basic training to “receive further military training.” In fact, I was “recycled.” Finally, at the end of sixteen weeks, the First Sergeant summonsed me.

I entered the orderly room, marched smartly to his desk, came to attention, and began to report in military fashion.

The First Sergeant waved his hand and said, “At ease, Jacobson. Listen up. In the past sixteen weeks, you’ve completed two full cycles of Basic Training, and you have failed to graduate with either of them. That’s a record, Jacobson, but not one you should be proud of. During the sixteen weeks that you’ve been part of this command, you have not created a single disciplinary problem…you’ve created every one of them. We’ve tried every way that we know to bring you in line and nothing has worked. So, we’re giving up.”

“Do you mean I can go home, First Sergeant?”

“No, Jacobson, that isn’t what I mean at all. You are done with Basic Training, or maybe it would be more accurate to say, Basic Training is done with you. You’re going to move over to the Harmony Church area this afternoon and begin Advanced Infantry Training. When you finish there, if you ever do, you’ll be going straight to Vietnam, and Jacobson, you’ll probably die there.”

He looked at me for a minute, shook his head, and handed me a large brown envelope. “Here are your records and your orders. Pack your gear, call a base taxi, and give a copy of your orders to the driver. He will take you to your new training company. That’s all, Jacobson.”

*********

One hour later, I reported to my new training company, Company C, 85th Advanced Infantry Training Battalion. I arrived with my military-issue, duffel bag, filled with my U.S. Army issue clothing and a few approved personal items. I also had the large envelope that contained my 201 Military Personnel File that had grown to the rough size of the personnel file of a twenty-year combat veteran.

My new First Sergeant looked at me and then at my file. He knew there was a story there, though I had an idea it wasn’t one that he wanted to hear. He didn’t ask about the file. Instead, he said, “Private Jacobson, you are the first to arrive. Do you think you’re special?”

“No, First Sergeant.”

“Jacobson, if you think you are special this would be a good time to get over that idea.”

“Yes, First Sergeant.”

“Okay, Jacobson, you get the afternoon off. You also get your choice of bunks. Corporal Hankins will take you to the barracks. First formation will be at 0530 hours tomorrow. That’s all.”

Corporal Hankins took me to the barracks where I picked a lower bunk three away from the entrance door. He told me what time the mess hall opened, and he left. I unpacked my gear, made my bunk, and lay down to read Siddhartha, a book by Hermann Hesse that I’d found at the PX. I hadn’t been reading long when I heard someone enter the barracks and call out, “Jacobson, are you here?”

“Come on in, I’m here.”

A man appeared at the foot of my bunk. I looked over-the-top of the book and saw that he was a Captain. In sixteen weeks of Basic Training, I’d never spoken to my Company Commander. Now, fifteen minutes into Advanced Infantry Training, the Company Commander had come to see me. I jumped out of the bunk and began to come to attention, thinking I was supposed to say something, something that failed to come to mind.

He stopped me with an upraised hand, “That’s not necessary, Leonard. This isn’t official business.” He sat down on my footlocker, and I sat on the edge of the bunk.

He glanced at the book and commented, “Good book. Have you read it before?”

“No, Sir. I just found it at the PX.”

With a puzzled look on his face he said, “At the PX?”

“Yes, Sir. The clerk said he had no idea how it got there.”

The Captain laughed, “I can believe that,” he said, then added, “You’ll like it. I’m sure of it. Let me know what you think of it when you’re done.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Leonard, I’m Captain Kennedy, Richard Kennedy, and for this afternoon you can call me, Richard, if you like.”

“If it’s all right with you, Captain, I’d just as soon not form any habits that will cause me grief down the road.”

He laughed, “I understand. Well, I’m going to call you Leonard, anyway, and you call me whatever feels right for you. Get your cap; I’m going to take you on a little trip. You’ll be back in plenty of time for supper.”

“That’s fine by me, Sir. Just give me a minute to secure the area.”