Potoooooooo
Contributor
http://www.vice.com/read/the-us-mil...ne-soldiers-at-the-end-of-the-vietnam-war-253
The final years of the Vietnam War were filled with chaos and disappointment. The conflict between the US and Vietcong wouldn't officially end until the infamous fall of Saigon in 1975, but in the spring of 1971 the Nixon administration began pulling troops out of the area, starting a long and messy end to one of America's most unpopular wars.
Through those years, many US soldiers were cycled in and out of the conflict. Some came home in one piece, others in body bags. But there was one group of US veterans who, despite serving bravely and saving countless lives, were either executed or abandoned by the military they served, says former US soldier Rick Claggett. These were the Military Working Dogs of the Vietnam War, who Claggett describes as being considered "surplus equipment" at the war's end. Despite pleas from dog handlers who wanted to take their fellow soldiers home with them, the US military decided to abandon—and likely euthanize—many of the dogs, leaving the rest to the South Vietnamese.
Like many young men of his time, Claggett was drafted into the Army in 1970. Being more of a cat person, the only reason he enlisted in a program for dog handlers was for the extra six months of training in the States—he thought that might be long enough to wait out the war's end. But when he was inevitably shipped out, Claggett ended up forming a close relationship with his scout dog, Big Boy, who he says he still thinks about to this day, nearly 44 years later.
The final years of the Vietnam War were filled with chaos and disappointment. The conflict between the US and Vietcong wouldn't officially end until the infamous fall of Saigon in 1975, but in the spring of 1971 the Nixon administration began pulling troops out of the area, starting a long and messy end to one of America's most unpopular wars.
Through those years, many US soldiers were cycled in and out of the conflict. Some came home in one piece, others in body bags. But there was one group of US veterans who, despite serving bravely and saving countless lives, were either executed or abandoned by the military they served, says former US soldier Rick Claggett. These were the Military Working Dogs of the Vietnam War, who Claggett describes as being considered "surplus equipment" at the war's end. Despite pleas from dog handlers who wanted to take their fellow soldiers home with them, the US military decided to abandon—and likely euthanize—many of the dogs, leaving the rest to the South Vietnamese.
Like many young men of his time, Claggett was drafted into the Army in 1970. Being more of a cat person, the only reason he enlisted in a program for dog handlers was for the extra six months of training in the States—he thought that might be long enough to wait out the war's end. But when he was inevitably shipped out, Claggett ended up forming a close relationship with his scout dog, Big Boy, who he says he still thinks about to this day, nearly 44 years later.
