- It's against the rules for U.S. soldiers in Iraq to have
pets, but the skinny black puppy that wandered up to the Florida National
Guard soldiers at a base in northern Iraq wouldn't go away.
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- So the soldiers from Alpha Co. of the 2nd Battalion of
the 124th Infantry Regiment adopted the mutt and named her Apache after
their radio call sign.
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- But Army regulations finally caught up with Alpha Co.
and Apache.
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- Family members said Wednesday that the soldiers were
eventually forced to obey orders and have the dog killed.
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- "My husband was devastated," said Maggie Ford
of Melbourne, whose husband, Sgt. 1st Class Bill Ford, had hoped to bring
the dog back to Florida. "We all cried when we found out."
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- Many wild and stray dogs, often unfriendly and even dangerous,
roam the Iraq countryside. But soldiers said Apache was always friendly.
At first, the men tried to ignore the eager pup, who kept sidling up to
them begging for food while they kept guard at a checkpoint leading into
Camp Anaconda, a huge American base outside Balad, about an hour north
of Baghdad. But finally the soldiers gave in and took the dog back to their
camp.
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- While affectionate with the 130 or so soldiers in the
company, Apache could spot a stranger instantly and would bark and growl
menacingly. She seemed to especially dislike officers, and in September
nipped at a captain from another company who got too close.
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- But Apache would happily greet the soldiers when they
returned from patrols, then roll over to have her belly rubbed and chew
playfully on their arms.
-
- Still, the soldiers were warned repeatedly that they
were flouting the rules and that they had to get rid of the dog.
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- Maggie Ford said her husband was researching how to bring
Apache back when the soldiers come home in February, but commanders last
month gave the soldiers a deadline.
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- She said her husband couldn't bear to have the dog killed,
so the soldiers drove Apache about 10 miles outside the base in the hope
someone would take care of her.
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- Within three days, Apache had found her way back to camp,
Maggie Ford said.
-
- Finally, around Thanksgiving, the soldiers took their
pet to a veterinarian, who destroyed her, she said.
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- Family members still don't have all the details. The
soldiers from Alpha Co., who mostly train at the Leesburg armory, and those
from Bravo Co., who train at the Sanford armory, have little access to
telephones or e-mail at Camp Anaconda, and their families have infrequent
contact with them.
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- But several said the soldiers were upset they had to
have the dog destroyed.
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- "Their morale dropped," said Linda Wood of
Sumterville, whose son Spc. Seth Wood is in Alpha Co. "There were
some guys who were very, very attached to that dog."
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- Kim Alfonso of Tampa, whose husband, Sgt. 1st Class Mark
Alfonso, is the leader of the platoon that adopted Apache, said she spoke
to her husband after the dog was destroyed, but he was too upset to discuss
what had happened.
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- She said her husband has tried to keep his men from dwelling
on the dog's fate. The soldiers conduct frequent raids and patrols looking
for guerrillas and can't afford to be distracted.
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- And while Apache's death was upsetting to many of the
men and their families, Kim Alfonso said, it's a small tragedy in a place
where hundreds of Americans, and still unknown numbers of Iraqis, have
died since the war began.
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- Iraq, after all, is a place where life is hard enough
for people, let alone animals.
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- Kim Alfonso said her husband recently had her mail him
some clothes their 3-year-old daughter had outgrown so he could give them
to children in the local villages, who often wear little more than rags.
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- "You have to keep things in perspective," Kim
Alfonso said. "It's not like one of our guys was shot. We're talking
about a dog. But it is sad."
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- http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/orl-asecapache11121103dec
- 11,0,1537303.story?coll=sfla-news-florida
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