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To off-set the tragic story of Yvette Vickers, I decided to talk about a hero - two actually.
Americans are fascinated by the anonymous U.S. Navy SEALs who daringly raided Osama bin Laden's
Abbottabad, Pakistan compound this week, but one canine commando is attracting especially fervent interest.
According to the New York Times and the British tabloid The Sun, a military dog (not pictured)
was strapped onto one of the assault team members as he was lowered out of a Black Hawk helicopter
and began the operation that killed the notorious terrorist on Monday.
But who is this canine hero?
Sadly, we know very little,
and the Pentagon hasn't confirmed that a dog was even on the mission,
much less release information about the canine's name or breed.
"Little is known about what may be the nation's most courageous dog," the Times' Gardner Harris writes.
He speculates that the dog was most likely a German shepherd or a Belgian Malinois, since those are the breeds most often found in the military's 2,700-strong military dog program.
Dogs are increasingly important in America's combat operations abroad, and some have been outfitted with special (and adorable) "doggles"
to protect their eyes, oxygen masks to protect their lungs as they parachute out with soldiers at high altitudes,
and even waterproof vests that contain infrared cameras that transmit video back to servicemen watching a monitor yards behind them.
According to Foreign Policy,
another dog named Eli fiercely guarded his Marine, Private First Class Carlton Rusk,
after he was shot by Taliban sniper fire in Afghanistan.
Rusk's bomb-sniffing dog would not even let fellow Marines approach the wounded Rusk, who did not survive the attack.
Eli now lives with Rusk's family.
Americans are fascinated by the anonymous U.S. Navy SEALs who daringly raided Osama bin Laden's
Abbottabad, Pakistan compound this week, but one canine commando is attracting especially fervent interest.
According to the New York Times and the British tabloid The Sun, a military dog (not pictured)
was strapped onto one of the assault team members as he was lowered out of a Black Hawk helicopter
and began the operation that killed the notorious terrorist on Monday.
But who is this canine hero?
Sadly, we know very little,
and the Pentagon hasn't confirmed that a dog was even on the mission,
much less release information about the canine's name or breed.
"Little is known about what may be the nation's most courageous dog," the Times' Gardner Harris writes.
He speculates that the dog was most likely a German shepherd or a Belgian Malinois, since those are the breeds most often found in the military's 2,700-strong military dog program.
Dogs are increasingly important in America's combat operations abroad, and some have been outfitted with special (and adorable) "doggles"
to protect their eyes, oxygen masks to protect their lungs as they parachute out with soldiers at high altitudes,
and even waterproof vests that contain infrared cameras that transmit video back to servicemen watching a monitor yards behind them.
According to Foreign Policy,
another dog named Eli fiercely guarded his Marine, Private First Class Carlton Rusk,
after he was shot by Taliban sniper fire in Afghanistan.
Rusk's bomb-sniffing dog would not even let fellow Marines approach the wounded Rusk, who did not survive the attack.
Eli now lives with Rusk's family.
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