Another Place Another Time

Book One

Jake and Whispers

Episode Ten

Saturday afternoon I gave up my bunk in the NCO Cadre Quarters and moved into the Trainee Barracks for the three-month training course. It was late when I finished moving my gear into the empty barracks. The rest of the class would report Sunday afternoon and evening.

I was lying on my new bunk, reading Siddhartha for the sixth time, when the barracks door opened abruptly. The sound echoed through the empty squad room and someone shouted, “Leonard, are you here?” It was Corporal Wheeler, the company clerk.

“Yeah, Tony, I’m just lying here waiting on my dog.”

Still shouting, Wheeler called out, “That’s why I’m here. Captain Cox told me to come and get you. Your dog just got here, and there’s a problem with him.”

I was halfway out of the bunk looking for my cap before I managed to say, “What’s the problem, Tony?”

Wheeler laughed, “Nothing that won’t wait for you to put on your shirt and your headgear.”

Two minutes later, I was at the kennel. I saw Captain Cox peering into one of the runs. “Where is he, Captain?”

As soon as I spoke, a shadow detached itself from the back of the run and moved rapidly toward the fence. Henry pointed and said, “There he is, all eighty-five pounds of him. Watch out.”

Just before reaching the fence, the shadow reared on his hind legs and stopped with his paws pressed lightly on the wire mesh at my shoulder level. It was the black German Shepherd that I had been waiting for. He looked right into my eyes. I could hear the sound of his breathing, which was easy despite his all-out dash to the fence. After a moment of intense staring, he wagged his tail. Then I noticed that he hadn’t made a sound; no barking or whining, the normal sounds you hear from new dogs.

I turned to Captain Cox. “What’s the matter with him, Sir?”

“He’s too young, Leonard. Look closely and you’ll see what I mean. You know that a dog has to be two years old to go through the training unless there is a special exception, and there has never been one for a dog this young. Leonard, he’s only thirteen months old. I just called the Vet who sent him. He confirmed the dog’s age and admitted that he had lied on the paperwork he originally sent. I asked him why he had lied and he said there were two reasons. He told me the first reason was this dog is the smartest dog he has ever seen.”

Captain Cox hesitated.

“And the second reason, Captain?”

“He said that if we didn’t take him, there was no other place for him. He’d have to put him down. He told me the dog had belonged to an old rancher who lived just outside Missoula. One day the old man came up missing, and his neighbors began searching for him. The next day they found him dead, thrown by his horse. Your dog was guarding him, and he wouldn’t let anyone near him. They had to call the animal control unit to get him away from the body. All the ranchers around Missoula have heard the story and they are all afraid of him, so no one is willing to take him. The Vet said that if we didn’t take him, then he would have to put him down.”

I looked at the big dog still standing on hind legs and still silent. “Sir, maybe he can do it.”

Captain Cox turned toward me. Looking straight in my eyes he asked, “Leonard, do you know what will happen to you if he doesn’t make it.”

“Yes, Sir, I know. I wash out of the training.”

“Do you know what will happen to you if you wash out of this training?”

“Yes, Sir…I’ll go to Vietnam… without a dog. I’ll be assigned to a Ranger unit.”

“Do you want to risk that, Leonard?”

“If I say I don’t want to risk it, what happens to him, Sir?”

Captain Cox didn’t hesitate. “I don’t like this, Leonard, but we’ll put him down tonight and start trying to find another dog for you. If we do that you won’t lose your training slot. You’ll wait here at the school until we can find another dog for you.”

I turned to the dog, touched his nose through the chain-link fence and whispered, “Can you do it, Boy?”

He wagged his tail and, suddenly I knew he could do it. Understand what I’m saying here. I asked him a question, and in a couple of seconds, I knew the answer. I wasn’t making something up or playing mind games with myself. The dog had actually communicated with me.

I turned back to Captain Cox and said, “He says he can do it, Sir, and I believe him. If you’ll issue the exception, we’ll go through the training together, Sir.”

Captain Cox looked at the dog, then back at me. “Leonard, if you’re sure that’s what you want, I’ll do it.”

“I’m sure, Sir.”

Only then did the dog make his first sound, a soft bark.

Captain Cox laughed and said, “Good luck to you…to both of you.”

*********

Late that night, I asked K-9 #68-77, my dog’s official Army name, if he liked the name, Whispers. I’d picked that name because he seldom barked or whined. He wagged his tail, and in that moment he became Whispers.

I knelt beside him, put my arms around his neck and, since no one was around, I cried a little bit. I knew that everything that I’d done to get to that moment had been worth it.

Three months later, thanks to the perfect performance of Whispers, I added another first place training finish to my record.

*********

Captain Cox sent a handwritten letter to Dr. Jerry Easterbrook, the Veterinarian from Missoula, Montana, who had sent Whispers to the training center. He made two carbon copies of the letter. One he placed in my 201 Personnel File, the other he gave to me.

The letter read:

Dear Jerry,

Pursuant to our conversation three months ago, I’ve enclosed an official Army press release about the dog you sent us and his handler, SGT Leonard Jacobson.

Though the dog, named Whispers by SGT Jacobson, was officially too young for the program, I made an exception based on two facts:

Your statement that he was the smartest dog you had ever seen and SGT Jacobson’s willingness to put his long held dream of being a Scout Dog Handler on the line.

SGT Jacobson and Whispers not only successfully completed the Scout Dog Training; they finished number one in their class.

Sincerely yours,

Captain Henry Cox

Commanding Officer

U.S. Army Infantry Scout Dog Training Center

Fort Benning, Georgia

*********

That day, at Fort Benning, Georgia, twenty handler and dog teams graduated. By late afternoon, they were all on three week’s leave. Nineteen of the teams were on orders that reassigned them to various units in South Vietnam.

One team, Whispers and I, had orders to report to Fort Gordon, Georgia, for four weeks of Special Tracker Dog and Handler Training.

*********

At Fort Gordon, my streak of four first place training finishes ended. There we finished second to Sergeant James Tadlock and his dog, Jimbo, who were TDY from their unit, the 47th IPSD, Vietnam.

Whispers and Jimbo were buddies from the first day of training. Tadlock and I hit it off well, too. Years later, I realized that Whispers and I learned way more from Jimbo and James than we learned from the official Tracker Dog Training. In fact, the information those two shared with us saved our lives more times than I could ever know or care to think about.

**********

Two days after graduation from Tracker School, our entire class reported to Lawson Field, Fort Benning, Georgia, where we boarded a C-141 Starlifter; destination: Bien Hoa, Vietnam.

I post two episodes of Another Place Another Time every week

For info on receiving each episode directly on your Kindle click here
Or, if you don’t want to wait, click here to purchase the complete Kindle version of the book.

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

Another Place - Episode 9

Another Place Another Time

Book One

Jake and Whispers

Episode Nine

There is only one way to become airborne qualified, and that is to complete the three-week training course at Fort Benning; there are no exceptions. The first week is nothing but intense physical training. The second week is intense physical training with the addition of specific parachuting skills and techniques. The third week is the same as the second with one addition, five parachute drops: four during daylight and one night jump.

Sunday afternoon I signed in at The Airborne Training Center. I had no expectations of Airborne Training beyond the fact that I knew there would be a lot of running. Platoons from The Airborne Training Center ran all over the post, in fact they ran everywhere they went. After six months of physical training, I knew the running wouldn’t be a problem for me. Since I didn’t personally know what the rest of the training would be, I didn’t waste my time thinking or worrying about it.

The running was a problem for many of my fellow trainees. Had the class been a normal class, that is, 80 to 90% just out of AIT, the running wouldn’t have been much of an issue. However, mine wasn’t a normal class. It was an unusual mix of National Guardsmen, Army Reservists, and regular Army soldiers who had reenlisted for either Special Forces or the Rangers. Before they could begin Special Forces or Ranger training, they had to become Airborne Qualified. For the most part, the Guardsmen and Reservists were men who had joined a National Guard or Army Reserve unit to avoid serving in Vietnam. In 1968, the only Guard and Reserve units that still had openings were airborne units. They had to become airborne qualified within a year after joining the unit. Failure to do so meant automatic active duty for two years. The Guardsmen and Reservists in my Airborne Training Class had completed their Basic Training and eight weeks of advanced training. However, when given the choice of going home for a few months or going to Airborne Training immediately after AIT, they had opted to go home. Now, approaching the end of their year’s grace period for becoming Airborne Qualified, they had lost the conditioning they’d had six months earlier. For them, and for most of the regular army trainees, running was a major issue.

At the end of the first week, over half the class had washed out. By the end of the second week, only 40% of the original group remained.

In the middle of the second week, I became the Acting Platoon Sergeant, a position I held for the rest of the training. No one in my platoon washed out in the third week. In the second platoon two guys, one National Guardsman and one regular army, made it to the first jump, but refused to get on the plane. As for me, I had never been on an airplane before in my life, so I found it rather ironic that my first plane ride ended abruptly with my first parachute jump. Actually, I ended my first eight plane rides with parachute jumps. It wasn’t until months later, on the way to Vietnam, that I experienced my first landing when we stopped for fuel in Anchorage, Alaska.

My Airborne Training Class graduated at 1000 hours Friday. I led the First Platoon past the reviewing stand. The graduates were a proud group; the Guardsmen and Reservists because it meant they could remain in their units; the regular army personnel because it meant they could go on to either Special Forces or Ranger Training. I was proud because it meant I was three weeks closer to meeting my dog.

I finished number one in Airborne training which meant another promotion. First, PFC and three weeks later, Corporal, not bad for someone who spent sixteen weeks in basic training, I thought.

Captain Kennedy, Captain Cox, and several of the instructors from the Scout Dog Training Center attended the graduation. Afterwards, I loaded my gear in Captain Kennedy’s Jeep, and we went back to the Scout Dog Training Center for lunch.

As we were eating, Captain Kennedy turned to Captain Cox and said, “Well, Henry, if the kid here finishes first in Ranger training, he’ll make Sergeant, and then it’ll be all right to take him out in public.” Everyone laughed. We finished eating, and Captain Kennedy said, “Leonard, I have to go back to the office now. My new class is three weeks into their program, and it’s getting a little sticky for some of them. If you like, I’ll pick you up Sunday and take you over to the Ranger Training Center.”

“That’ll be great, Sir. I’ll see you then.”

********

I could have taken a one-week leave before starting Ranger Training. However, because of class schedules, that would have delayed my Scout Dog Handler training by three weeks. I wasn’t willing to do anything that would delay meeting my dog.

Ranger School was more demanding than any training I’d done. Unlike many of the trainees in my Airborne Class, the Ranger Trainees were in exceptional physical condition, and they were serious about completing the course and completing it to the best of their ability. No one who signs up for Ranger Training does it with the idea of just getting by.

At the end of the first month of training, I checked the class status board. Halfway through the training, four of us shared the top position. I spent that weekend at The Scout Dog Training Center.

Sunday afternoon, Captain Kennedy came to the Center to play with the dogs. After lunch, he took me back to the Ranger School. As we were pulling out of the parking lot, I said, “Captain, when you first brought me over here four months ago, you mentioned Scout Dogs, and you mentioned Tracker Dogs. I know what Scout Dogs and their handlers do. What are Trackers?”

“Leonard, you never forget anything. Trackers are just that, dogs and men trained to track and find either downed aviators or the enemy. Tracking and finding downed aviators is self-explanatory. Enemy tracking takes a bit more explaining. I’m not talking about enemy discovering, that’s what the Scout dogs do. In Vietnam, the enemy can disappear like smoke. When that happens, the infantry will often bring in a Tracker Team whose job is finding the Viet Cong or NVA (North Vietnamese Army).”

“I know Scout Dogs and their handlers go to school here, what about the trackers?” I asked.

“They’re trained at Fort Gordon, a much smaller base than Fort Benning, near Augusta. They have two tracker training courses there. One is three months, just like the Scout Dog course. The dogs that go through it are mostly retrievers. The second Tracking course they offer is for dogs and handlers who have already completed the Scout Dog Training. Most of the trainees and dogs for the special tracker training classes go to Fort Gordon TDY from Vietnam, because they have shown an aptitude for tracking. Occasionally a team goes directly from Scout Dog training because of their outstanding performance in training. That course is four weeks.”

We rode in silence for a few minutes, and then Captain Kennedy added, “The IPSD (Infantry Patrol Scout Dog) unit that I knew in Vietnam had only two teams that were both Scout and Tracker qualified.” He paused, recalling, and then added, “They were something special, the dogs and the men.”

During the last month of Ranger training, we somehow managed to get weekend passes on two occasions. Almost all the trainees used them to go to Columbus, Georgia and Phoenix City, Alabama to drink, gamble, and frequent the local prostitutes. I went to the Scout Dog Training Center, played with the dogs, and cleaned the kennels.

With one week left in our Ranger Training, we received our final weekend pass. I checked the status board before taking a base taxi to the dog unit. There were now only two of us tied for top position in the class, Staff Sergeant Hernandez from Fort Carson, Colorado, and me. I never knew what Hernandez did that weekend, but whatever it was; he got kicked out of school and gave me sole possession of the number one position. I didn’t give it up or share it with anyone for the rest of the training.

Graduation day was wet and cool. The drizzle that swept the parade ground kept well-wishers and proud relatives to a minimum. However, the weather didn’t deter my parents, Captain Kennedy, Captain Cox and all the Scout Dog Training Center personnel who could get away from their duties for an hour.

The 3rd Army Band began playing as the 541st Ranger Class marched onto the parade field. Two platoons of new Rangers graduated that day, eighty men who had completed two months of extreme physical and scholastic training. That training included courses in advanced mathematics and leadership, basic medical care, basic Vietnamese language instruction, extensive small arms, light artillery and explosives training, combined with hours of strenuous physical training, numerous field exercises and three night parachute drops. As near as I could tell, they were all proud of their accomplishment. As for me, I was only two days away from meeting my partner.

Captain Kennedy and Captain Cox took us to The Oaks, an exclusive restaurant in Columbus, for lunch. Over lunch, Captain Cox explained to my parents that since I was now a Sergeant, it was all right for me to be in public with him and Captain Kennedy.

Everyone laughed.

I post two episodes of Another Place Another Time every week

For info on receiving each episode directly on your Kindle click here
Or, if you don’t want to wait, click here to purchase the complete Kindle version of the book.

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

Another Place Another Time - Episode 8

 Another Place Another Time

Book One

Jake and Whispers

Episode Eight

By 2200 hours, all the new students had signed in, and the barracks was full. I met a few of the guys, the ones who had chosen the bunks nearest mine. However, I didn’t get to know any of them well, not that first night or any other time during the eight-week course. I didn’t feel that they were competing against me. What I needed to do was just about me. I had to direct all of my energy toward motivating myself. A total commitment of energy was something I’d never done before, so I was exploring new ground, but the stakes were too high for me to give anything except my best.

All the talk that night was about Vietnam, and I couldn’t relate to it. Totally focused on my dog, I had no interest in discussing Vietnam. Long after lights out, I was still awake, lying in the darkness, surrounded by the sounds of nineteen sleeping men, my mind filled with thoughts of the black dog that I would be meeting in a little over five months. I grinned in the darkness when I realized that he was out there somewhere, probably sound asleep

That night, for the first time in my life, I wanted something. Until then I’d never entertained a desire beyond the basic ones: food, shelter, and clothing. I don’t mean to imply that I had everything, though I’m sure my parents would have given me anything I’d have asked for. What I mean is, I never asked for anything, because I never wanted anything. I saw the kids around me endlessly chasing wishes, just the way their parents and every adult around us chased them, but I’d never had any driving desires…until that dog moved into my head.

I wanted a scout dog, my own scout dog. The irony of that was, I didn’t want just any dog, I wanted a particular dog. I didn’t know his name yet, but when I closed my eyes, I could see him, and I knew I wasn’t daydreaming. He was solid black, an anomaly among Army Scout Dogs, since only one in a hundred are black. I didn’t mind the odds, because I knew my dog was black; I wasn’t hoping. I’ve never had any truck with hope.

I don’t know if I slept at all that night, but I do know that I didn’t suffer from lack of sleep the first day of Advanced Infantry Training, or any other day during the eight-week course. Thoughts of my dog kept me going.

At 0500 hours, four drill instructors magically appeared, two on each floor. With a garbage can lid in each hand, they were competing to see who could make the most noise. Waking that way is unnerving, which is why I slid out of my bunk at 0450 and began dressing before the games began.

Thirty minutes later, we were standing in our first formation and the DI (Drill Instructor) began calling the roll. After the first name, “Padgett, John D.,” he added, “Padgett, you’ll be the Acting Platoon Sergeant. Do you understand that, Padgett?”

A frightened voice from the back of the formation responded, “Yes, Sergeant, I understand.” I knew that Padgett wouldn’t last the eight weeks as the Acting Platoon Sergeant.

The DI went back to the roster. After he called a few more names, I determined that he was calling names in reverse order from the way we had signed in, which meant Padgett had been the last to arrive the previous evening. Besides the Acting Platoon Sergeant, each training platoon has four other acting positions. They are the Acting Squad Leader positions. An Army training platoon consists of four squads of ten men each, which is the normal arrangement of an infantry platoon at full strength. In what appeared to be random order, the DI assigned three Acting Squad Leader positions, as he moved through the roster. I unconsciously counted off the names. Since I knew that I had been the first to sign in, I knew that mine would be the last name called. With thirty-nine names called, there was one Acting Squad Leader position to fill. I knew that appointment wasn’t a random call. Captain Kennedy was testing my resolve early on. He need not have bothered. I was well aware of what I had to do, and I intended to do it.

During the eight weeks of training, every Acting Squad Leader position appointment changed many times. The Acting Platoon Sergeant position only changed once. At the end of the first week, I took Padgett’s place, and I remained Acting Platoon Sergeant for the remaining seven weeks of the training.

Friday morning, eight weeks to the day after Captain Kennedy took me to the Scout Dog Training Center, our platoon graduated with ten other Advanced Infantry Training platoons.

I finished number one among the four hundred graduates that day. As I received my certificate of achievement from Captain Kennedy, he said softly, “Hang around the barracks; I want to talk to you.”

The first-place finish carried with it an automatic promotion to PFC (Private First Class), and it insured my getting into the Airborne Training School. I figured that I was back in the Army’s good graces, and I intended to stay there. My motivation was simple. I was doing it to make sure I made the meeting with my partner, now only three months in my future. As strange as it may sound, I knew my dog was out there somewhere getting ready for his meeting with me. I took great satisfaction from that.

Everyone had cleared out of the barracks. Most of them were on the way home on a 30-day leave, before heading to Vietnam. I was lying on my now stripped bunk, reading Siddhartha when I heard Captain Kennedy come in. This time I didn’t try to jump up and salute, but I did put the book down and sit up. He sat on my footlocker just as he had eight weeks earlier. We were both grinning like four-year-olds, and we kept grinning for a few minutes until he managed to say, “Damn, I’m proud of you, Leonard.”

“To be honest with you, Captain….”

He interrupted, “Let’s get this straight right now, Leonard, the Captain stuff has to go when it’s just me and you. Do you understand?”

I looked at him, laughed, and said, “Okay, Richard. As I was saying, I’m proud of myself, too. I’ve never worked for anything the way I worked to finish first in the class.”

Richard laughed and said, “Of course we both know that you weren’t working for a first-place finish, you were working for something a whole lot more important than that. By the way, on the subject of first-place finishes, the man who finished second was 52 points behind you. That’s most impressive, Leonard.”

He handed me an envelope and said, “You know that your Airborne Training class begins this coming Monday. Here’s something you don’t know. You’ve been accepted into Ranger Training. These orders just arrived.” I took the envelope as Richard asked, “Are you going to go home for the weekend?”

“No, I thought I would just hang around the base this weekend.”

“I’ll bet you were hoping to catch a ride out to the Scout Dog Training Center, too.”

I grinned, “You know me too well.”

“Stay here in the barracks tonight, and tomorrow, if you want to. I’ve already told the First Sergeant that you might be here. Now, let’s go get a bite to eat, and then we’ll go see the dogs.”

As I reached for the book, he said, “You haven’t finished that yet?”

“I’ve read it four times so far.”

“You owe me a book report, you know?”

I laughed, “I haven’t forgotten. I’m working on it.”

He said, “Good, I’ll be waiting for it.”

We had lunch at a small café just off post. After lunch, we headed for the Scout Dog Unit. We had visited the place four weeks earlier, at the halfway point in my Advanced Infantry Training, when the rest of the platoon was away on weekend pass. This trip was even more exciting to me. I had successfully overcome the first of three hurdles that stood between me and my dog. Now, there were only two.

At the training center, Richard introduced me to the Unit’s new Commander, Captain Henry Cox. Henry had recently returned from a tour of duty with the Big Red One’s (1st Infantry Division) IPDS (Infantry Patrol Dog Scout) Company. I knew as soon as I looked in Henry’s eyes that he had been to Vietnam. He had the same look Richard had. Later, I realized that every person who served in Vietnam had it. It wasn’t long before a phrase appeared in the language that described the look; it was ‘the thousand yard stare.’

We spent the afternoon playing with the dogs. A scout dog handler class had just graduated, and the new dogs were in, waiting for their handlers. Their class would begin Monday. Before I realized what was happening, I was cleaning kennels, hosing down runs, and exercising dogs, until the sun was rapidly sliding away behind the pine trees.

Richard and Henry came down to the kennel just as I was putting away the hose and broom. Henry said, “Good job, private. I was wondering who I could get to do that.”

Before we left the training center, Henry said, “Look, Leonard, you’re going to be on base training for three months before you report here for your class. I have an extra bed and footlocker in the NCO area. Since I know that you’ll be out here every chance you get, why don’t you take that bed and locker? That way I won’t feel too bad about getting you to clean the kennels occasionally.”

We laughed, and I thanked him, probably more profusely than was necessary, but I couldn’t help myself.

The next day, Saturday, Richard took my gear and me to the Dog Training Center. I moved in and went to work.

I post two episodes of Another Place Another Time every week

For info on receiving each episode directly on your Kindle click here

Or, if you don’t want to wait, click here to purchase the complete Kindle version of the book.

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 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

For info on receiving each episode directly to your Kindle click here

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

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.”

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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.”