There’s a cool story that’s going around the mainstream news. It’s about a wild dog that walked 70 miles to find a Marine that taken him in as owner. The dog had parts of his ears cut off by Iraqis when he was a puppy, and the Marine named him Nubs, and is now trying to get him back to America.
You can read about it here.I really liked the story because it reminded me about our pet dog “Shitstain”.
Well, let’s start at the beginning. Just so you know, in the country in Iraq it’s like a plague of dogs. It’s not what you’d think of a dog in America. No poodles. No terriers. They’re more like dingos. Big wild dogs. There would be packs of em trucking around eating garbage, or people would feed them, and use them as a sort of alarm/attack system. Now keep in mind that Iraqis don’t have the slightest clue what a humane society is, and there are no checks on the dog population. They don’t spay or neuter their pets. They’re not immunized. Rabies is real. You can’t do a night patrol without hearing a cacophony of dog barking. Forget about noise discipline.
When we got to FOB St. Mike, we replaced 2/2. (2nd Bn, 2nd Marines), and that base was overran with stray dogs. Americans love dogs, and it’s very hard for us to resist taking them in as pets, even if it’s a terrible health risk. Well, apparently 2/2 took in a lot of puppies during their deployment. But those dogs grow up nice and big. And poop a lot. And carry diseases a lot. And even if you give them names, they’re still wild dogs. We had to ration our showers, so you can imagine how mangy those dogs were. We moved into a bad situation.
So command made a very unpopular but very correct call. They said “Don’t get attached to these dogs, because when 2/2 leaves, they’re all going to be put down.” I know your gut reaction is to say “That’s terrible and cruel!”, but think about it for a second. It was the right decision. Let one of the Marines get rabies, because they live with wild animals? You know what they do at animal control centers? They kill dogs. And they do it for a good reason. You know how those humane society dogs have labels on their cages like “8 days to live”? It’s because we have to keep the population down, or we’d have a plague of dogs like Iraq.
Well, right at the beginning of my deployment, I went on a night raid with some of the 2/2 guys. After the raid we saw some puppies, and we took one, because like dummies, we just couldn’t resist. My Plt Sgt. named him Shitstain, which we all thought was pretty funny. Here’s a pic of me that morning, with cute little Stain.
Awwwww.
Well, we only had him for a short while, when we heard that the dog kill was about to commence. So the next time we drove to the ING (Iraqi National Guard) compound we took Shitstain with us to set him free. Their base was brimming with trash, filth, and dogs, so Mr. Stain would fit right in. Plus we’d be saving him from an untimely death. A couple of times after that I went to go feed him, but they get big quickly and he got hard to recognize when he’s with the pack. I let it go because I would have been remiss to spend time and resources looking for a pooch to feed and play with, when I had such so much on my plate. You know. Like hunting terrorists and training the ING.
So that’s the story of Shitstain.
Well, I was reading the comments of that ABC article about the dog Nubs, when I read this comment.
“I'm touched by the story but at the same time still very bitter towards the USMC for what they've done to other dogs in Iraq. When my son was over there, he befriended a young pup he named 'sh*tstain'. This pup was the one 'friend' who never let him down. But one day he came back from a mission and his beloved pup was gone along with every other dog who had wandered on base. Would you believe someone had ordered all dogs who came on base shot due to 'sanitation' concerns! Apparently, there were a few marines who were so anxious to get out and kill something that this would 'curb' their appetite for destruction. I've often wanted to spill this story to PETA or some other group for cruelty. My son needed that dog so badly since he was rebuffed when he tried to seek help for his deteriating mental condition. After suffering severely with PTSD (like thousands of others) he's fortunately out of the USMC - but the haunting memories will last forever. The command he was in be da**ed!”
I read it at lunch today, and I was so angry that I could hardly form a sentence. I know that on the internet and a public forum, people take some liberties with facts, hoping that out of the millions of people that might see it, nobody will have the facts to refute it. Well, I saw it. And I call shenanigans.
The only assumption I’m making is that she’s talking about our dog. I mean, what is the probability of some other squad naming their dog “Shitstain”, and also having a dog ethnic cleansing on their base at the same time? Remember that this was on ABC’s website, so who knows how many people have bought her story hook, line and sinker. A couple hundred? A couple thousand? How many would fail to question it, simply because it fits their world view?
Lets break it down.
#1.
“When my son was over there, he befriended a young pup he named 'sh*tstain'.”-Whoa. No. The Plt Sgt named him Shitstain. I know that saying that your son named him adds emotional value to the story, but it just isn’t true. (Unless the Plt Sgt is your son, which I highly doubt.) To heck with the facts, as long as it fits your narrative.
#2.
“This pup was the one 'friend' who never let him down.”-Um. Hi. I was the Squad Leader, and I put my Marines before myself at all times. So you’re saying that I
“let him down”? Are you saying that Bodz
let him down when he picked up that suicide car bomb and saved everyone’s life? Or that our pointman
let him down every time he was the first one through the door on a raid? Are you saying that everyone of his squadmates who would have given their lives for each other “
let him down” Are you saying that our Plt Cmdr, who was the most professional and driven officer I’ve ever met,
“let him down”? You can’t possibly know what you’re talking about. You might want to recheck your compass.
#3.
“Would you believe someone had ordered all dogs who came on base shot due to 'sanitation' concerns!” -Yes, that’s precisely what you should believe, because it’s true.
#4.
"I've often wanted to spill this story to PETA or some other group for cruelty."-I've often wanted a Ferrari. PETA huh? PETA has about as much to do with preventing animal cruelty as AT&T has to do with the telegraph.
#5.
"My son needed that dog so badly"-Who says that your son would have gotten to keep Shitstain? Maybe I wanted him.
#6.
“Apparently, there were a few marines who were so anxious to get out and kill something that this would 'curb' their appetite for destruction”-Now you just crossed the line. Choosing to spread lies about me and mine on a world news site is unsat. One of my former Marines was picked for that dog detail, and he wasn't too thrilled with cleaning up 2/2's mess. It wasn't the way you just described it. Damn his command? No. Damn you.
Labels: Nubs, Shitstain, St. Mike
