German Shepherds trained to parachute with SAS troops

Shameful, shameful act that should never be repeated again!

Sadly shit like that was (similarly) after the invasion of Iraq in GWII :mad: :(
 
We didn't have many and efforts were made to find them homes, but none returned to Australia..

Caesar, served with 2RAR, 4RAR, 5RAR, 9RAR in 68-70, retired to British Embassy in Saigon Jul 1970

Cassius arrived in SVN 67 with 7RAR, died from exhaustion in Vung Tau.

Janus, served with 3RAR exceptional tracking dog, rotated to 9RAR and possibly 8RAR, possibly left at 3RAR in 71, his lafe after service is unclear.

Julian, served with 3RAR, his handler was killed in april 68, he then transferred to 9RAR, then 8RAR, 7RAR and 3RAR again. His hearing deteriorated and he became quite sick, it's possible he ended up in American school in Saigon in 71.

Juno, arrived as a replacement in 69 or 70 with 5RAR, replacing sick dog Justin, transferred to 7RAR and then 3RAR, unclear what happened to him after 3RAR left in 71.

Justin, arrived in SVN with 7RAR, rotated to 1RAR where he suffered war neurosis during the battle of Coral, transferred to 5RAR, handed to the manager of the Chartered bank in Saigon in Jan 70

Marcian, served with 4RAR, given to the consular British Embassy in Saigon in Nov 71

Marcus, bred from a champion dog owned by former New South Wales Governor Sir Roden Cutler VC. Trained and handled by Dennis Ferguson in 2RAR in 67-68, not sure of his units until he was taken over again by Denis Ferguson in 2RAR's second rotation in 70. Denis claims he saw a tear in his eye when he returned. He was handed on to 4RAR in 71, his eye sight was failing by then and his disposal is unknown.

Milo, served in 4RAR, transfered to the mighty 6RAR in 69, may have been posted to 2RAR in 70, reportedly given to the assistant manager of the chartered bank in Saigon in late 71.

Tiber, served in 7RAR in 68, later posted to 1RAR, was involved in the battle of Coral with Justin, he ran off during the hight of the battle and returned the following day. Suffered severe shell shock, served again with 7RAR on their second tour, given to first Australian task force Military Police as a mascot in 70.

Trajan, served with 4RAR in 68-69, he went with Milo to 6RAR in 68-70, his disposal is unknown.

4 dogs were trained but not sent on operational service, 2 American scout dogs were employed with 1RAR in 68, these German Shepherds were not successful (we used mixed breed black labs), one being killed in a contact.
 
Coral...it's a wonder he came back. The names follow a pattern, are the names generated by some Darth Vader Ninja computer or is it some kind of tradition?
 
I still get mad, at what happened to many of the loyal K-9's that served their masters in Vietnam and saved many lives there.

In the end they were turned over to the South Vietnamese, who mistreated and mishandled them. They most likely were eaten by them in the bitter end. In a lot of cases the handlers begged the Army and Air Force to allow them to be adopted by them to no avail. :mad:

Link:

http://community-2.webtv.net/Hahn-50thAP-K9/K9History6/

http://uswardogsmemorial.org/gpage.html1.html

I worked for a guy when I was stationed at Ft Bragg, who was a tracker handler. Still friends with him to this day and we see each other fairly regularly, he lives over in MT. Unfortunately he's busy on August 16th, but maybe next year.

LL
 
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