Caesar the War Dog
Page 20
‘Yeah, but –’
‘Besides, it’s getting more and more dangerous for war dogs in Afghanistan. Five of our dogs have been killed over there now. Spider, a dog that Caesar and I worked with, was blown up by an IED in Uruzgan just two weeks ago. Do you really want Caesar to go back over there – to that?’
‘Ah,’ said Charlie. ‘Now you put it like that … But when I said the other day that I’d like a dog like Caesar, I wasn’t angling for you to give him to me.’
‘I know that. You’re the most unselfish person I’ve ever known. But how about you and I are both a bit selfish, just this once, by keeping the Caesar we love safe, the way he kept us safe in Uruzgan? He deserves it.’
‘Roger to that,’ Charlie finally agreed.
Hundreds of excited schoolchildren lined a Canberra courtyard as a military band played and a troop of soldiers marched out bearing the Australian flag and the unit banner of the Special Operations Engineer Regiment (SOER), as the Incident Response Regiment had recently been renamed to better reflect its core Special Forces role. Following the soldiers came Charlie, propelling himself along in his wheelchair and dressed in SAS dress uniform adorned with his Victoria Cross and other medals. Caesar trotted along beside him on a leash.
Scores of guests occupied plastic chairs in the centre of the courtyard. In one of the middle rows sat Ben, wearing a civilian suit and sunglasses. His plastic surgery was complete, and as if by magic, his face was now as smooth as silk. Beside him sat Josh, Maddie and Nan Fulton. All four, bursting with pride, focused on Caesar as he passed. Officially, Caesar was a serving member of the SOER. Army records showed him as now on special assignment to Sergeant Charles Grover VC, as his ‘personal assistant’.
Caesar wore a special emerald-green dog jacket. Trimmed with white and emblazoned with the SOER’s emblem, the jacket had two Australian Army medals pinned to it.
‘Dad!’ Josh whispered urgently to Ben. ‘Are those Caesar’s new military medals on his jacket?’
‘Yes,’ Ben replied in a hushed voice.
‘The War Dog Operational Medal, and the Canine Service Medal?’ Josh knowledgeably asked. In his excitement, he spoke at full volume this time.
‘That’s right, son,’ Ben returned, signalling with a finger to his lips for Josh to keep quiet.
An elderly retired general sitting in front turned and glared at them. Ignorant of the family’s connection with the two heroes out front, he too put a finger to his lips, then went, ‘Ssshhh!’
Maddie giggled at this. ‘That man doesn’t know that we’re related to Caesar, does he, Daddy?’ she whispered.
‘That’s right, sweetheart,’ Ben whispered back. ‘It’s our secret.’ Then he caught sight of Amanda and Warren in the audience. Both gave him discreet waves.
Right at the back, wearing civilian clothes, baseball caps and sunglasses to disguise their identities, sat Bendigo Baz and Lucky Mertz. Both had fully recovered from their battle wounds and returned to SAS service. Neither would have missed this day for the world, for Charlie and Caesar were their comrades in arms.
On a dais stood a beaming Major General Jones, alongside Lieutenant General Martin McBride, chief of the Australian Army, and Catherina Roma, head of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the RSPCA.
As Charlie and Caesar sat facing him, Lieutenant General McBride commenced his speech. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, we are here to present another medal to a special member of the Australian Armed Forces. If there were a Victoria Cross for dogs, EDD 556 Caesar would have received it. Not only did Caesar risk his life time and again to discover explosives and other enemy material, on one occasion he helped pull an Australian soldier into cover during an engagement. And, most plucky of all, Caesar, while missing in action, succeeded in escaping while a prisoner of the Taliban. He then disrupted Taliban operations in Uruzgan Province for weeks as he evaded recapture. While I know that Caesar’s former handler, Sergeant F, must sorely miss him, it is fitting that Caesar is today partnered with Sergeant Grover VC, one of Australia’s most decorated soldiers. For, today, in receiving the RSPCA’s rarely awarded Purple Cross, Caesar becomes the most decorated dog in Australian history.’
Anonymous in the audience, Ben and his family watched with heart-thumping pride as Catherina Roma now came down from the dais to Caesar, and, bending low, draped the Purple Cross around his neck on a purple ribbon. In return, Caesar licked her on both cheeks, which generated squeals of joy from the watching children. Then, as Charlie had recently taught him, Caesar held out his right front paw for a handshake. Laughing, Catherina shook his paw as cameras clicked away, capturing the moment for posterity.
‘Three cheers for Caesar!’ called Lieutenant General McBride. ‘Hip-hip …’ And the courtyard resounded to hundreds of voices giving three loud cheers.
Following the medal ceremony, there was a garden party on the lawn. As guests drank tea and nibbled sandwiches, Charlie brought Caesar over to the Fulton clan. With a wildly wagging tail, Caesar dispensed licks to them all.
Josh pulled a tennis ball from his pocket, and Caesar’s eyes immediately latched onto it. ‘Charlie,’ Josh said, ‘do you think Caesar could …?’
‘Roger to that, mate,’ said Charlie, unfastening Caesar’s leash at the collar. ‘Caesar, seek on!’
Caesar went loping away with Josh and Maddie to play ball on the grass. As Ben, Nan and Charlie were watching, Major General Jones and Lieutenant General McBride came up to them. ‘So, Fulton, Grover,’ said Jones, after returning their salutes, ‘you should be very proud.’
‘Enormously proud, General,’ said Ben. ‘Of Caesar, and of Josh and Maddie – they’ve been very grown-up about allowing Caesar to work with Charlie.’
‘Roger to that,’ Charlie agreed.
‘I suppose,’ said General McBride, ‘we can now close the book on EDD 556 Caesar. He’ll go down in history as an exceptional animal.’
‘Oh, Caesar’s still got plenty to offer his country, General,’ said Charlie, as he watched the brown labrador romp with Josh and Maddie. ‘Don’t go writing either him or me off just yet. What do you reckon, Ben?’
A grin stretched across Ben’s face. ‘Roger to that, mate.’
As they spoke, Caesar bounded over to drop the tennis ball in front of them, then barked, once, as if to say, Come on, guys, you’re in this game, too!
Caesar would sleep well that night, and would dream with twitching snout and quivering paw of playing with the people he loved and who loved him.
Charlie and Ben were right, of course. Far from being over, Caesar’s amazing career had only just begun.
LIST OF MILITARY TERMS
AK-47 Russian-made assault rifle
ammo ammunition
ANA Afghan National Army
Anzacs originally, soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, but also used as a term to describe all Australian and New Zealand troops during the First World War
Apache, AH-64 twin-engine helicopter gunship
ASLAV Australian light armoured vehicle. It is amphibious, has eight wheels and can carry six troops plus a crew of three.
asset a general military term that is sometimes used to describe war dogs, but can also mean a human spy behind enemy lines
bears military intelligence personnel
Black Hawk, S-70A military helicopter used as a gunship as well as a cargo and troop carrier
Bushmaster Australian-made troop-carrying vehicle, four-wheel drive and can carry eight troops plus a crew of two
carbine rifle with a shorter barrel than an assault rifle
Chinook, CH-47 twin-rotor medium-lift military helicopter that carries cargo, vehicles and troops
clicks kilometres
Colt Python large-calibre Magnum revolver
convoy a group of vehicles of any type travelling together on land, or a fleet of cargo ships that sails together for protection
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br /> Diggers nickname for Australian soldiers
doggles protective goggles for war dogs
drone unmanned military aircraft used for reconnaissance and bombing raids
EDD explosive detection dog
extraction pickup of troops from hostile territory by air, land or sea
FOB forward operating base
frag shell fragments from an exploding artillery shell, grenade, bomb, or missile
F-16 American jet fighter-bomber aircraft
Globemaster III, C-17 four-engine jet heavy transport aircraft used to rapidly deploy troops, combat vehicles including tanks, heavy equipment and helicopters over long distances
Green Berets unofficial name of the US Army Special Forces, because they all wear a green beret
heelo helicopter, also written ‘helo’
Hercules, C-130 four-engine, propeller-driven military transport aircraft similar to but smaller than the Globemaster, pronounced ‘Her-kew-leez’
hostiles enemy fighters
Humvee American military vehicle, four-wheel drive
IED improvised explosive device or homemade bomb
insertion secret landing of troops behind enemy lines
insurgent guerrilla fighter who does not use a regular military uniform or tactics, and blends in with the local population
intel intelligence information
IRR Incident Response Regiment, Australian Army Special Operations Command unit deployed against terrorist and insurgent threats. In February 2012, the unit was renamed the Special Operations Engineer Regiment to better reflect its core Special Forces role
ISAF International Security Assistance Force
jumpmaster aircraft crew member who supervises parachutists
kal an Afghan farm compound, pronounced ‘karl’ and also sometimes spelt ‘qal’
loadmaster crew member in charge of cargo and passengers in military cargo aircraft and helicopters
LZ landing zone
malek a neutral Afghan envoy trusted by both sides
MRE Meal, Ready-to-Eat, sealed military ration pack of pre-cooked food
operator Australian SAS soldier
ops operations or military missions
ordnance ammunition
PE plastic explosive
puppy Peltors protective earmuffs for war dogs
Ranger a member of the US Army Rangers
roger ‘yes’ or ‘I acknowledge’
round bullet
RP rendezvous point or meeting place
RPG rocket-propelled grenade
SAS Special Air Service, elite Special Forces unit in the armies of Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom
seek on a handler’s instruction to an EDD to find explosives
SOER Special Operations Engineer Regiment, see IRR
special ops special operations or secret missions
trooper lowest rank in the SAS, the equivalent of a private in other army units
VC Victoria Cross for Australia, the highest-ranking Australian military medal for gallantry
FACT FILE
Notes from the Author
There were two real war dogs by the name of Caesar that served with Australian and New Zealand soldiers in the past. One was a New Zealand bulldog, whose job was to search for wounded Anzacs and carry water to them during the First World War (1914–18). The other was an Australian Army tracker dog that went to the Vietnam War in 1967. A black labrador–kelpie cross, that dog was left in Vietnam when Australian troops withdrew from that country several years later. The fictional Caesar in this book is based on several real dogs of modern times – Sarbi, Endal and Cairo – and their exploits.
I was prompted to write this book when I read how Australian Army explosive detection dog Sarbi, a female labrador, went missing in war-torn Afghanistan for thirteen months. To this day, no one knows precisely what happened to Sarbi during that time. If only she could talk! However, several reports from various sources about this period of Sarbi’s life do exist. One account claimed that Afghan guards shot at Sarbi when she found her way back to the forward operating base (FOB) where she had been located with her handler prior to the battle in which they were separated. Another report alleged that, shortly after the battle, Sarbi was taken in and cared for by an Afghan boy. All accounts agree that sometime later she came into the hands of the Taliban, who sought to exchange or ransom her. And finally there was a report that Sarbi was spotted in Afghan hands by a US Special Forces soldier, who was responsible for the dog’s return.
Those titbits of information inspired the creation of several characters in this book: the Afghan boy Hajera Haidari and his family, the Taliban’s Commander Baradar and Abdul Razah, Ibrahim and Ahmad the acrobats, and the US Rangers’ Sergeant Tim McHenry. Using these characters as a starting point, I was able to imagine what the lost Australian dog might have experienced during those thirteen months.
Similarly, all the other characters in this book are of my creation, and while they were often inspired by real people, every one of them is fictional and not intended to represent any particular real person. Ben Fulton, our Caesar’s handler, is quite different from Sarbi’s handler, Sergeant D, whose full name has not been released by the Australian Government for security reasons. For example, Sergeant D didn’t have two children.
The character of Sergeant Charlie Grover VC was also inspired by real people – SAS soldiers Trooper Mark Donaldson VC and Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith VC. Although Charlie’s appearance and background are very different, his courage and valour mirror theirs. In the same way that Charlie won his Victoria Cross for his actions during the Taliban ambush in which Caesar was separated from Ben, Trooper Donaldson won his Victoria Cross for his actions during the Taliban ambush in which Sarbi was separated from her handler. He was the first Australian soldier since the Vietnam War to receive the rarely awarded Victoria Cross.
Here are a few more facts about the real dogs, people and military units that inspired this book.
EXPLOSIVE DETECTION DOGS (EDDs)
The Australian Imperial Force used dogs during the First World War, primarily to carry messages. Sarbi was preceded by a long line of sniffer dogs used by the Australian Army to track the enemy during the Korean War (1950–53) and, later, in the Vietnam War. In 1981, the current explosive detection dog program was introduced by the army’s Royal Australian Engineer Corps, whose base is adjacent to Holsworthy Army Barracks in New South Wales. In 2005, Australian EDDs were sent to Afghanistan for the first time to join Australian Army operations there as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). A number of Australian EDDs have served in Afghanistan since then. Several have been killed or wounded while carrying out their dangerous but life-saving duties.
SARBI
Sarbi, whose service number is EDD 436, is a black female labrador serving with the Australian Army. She began the EDD training program in June 2005 and graduated from the 19-week training course with Corporal D, joining the Australian Army’s top-secret Incident Response Regiment (IRR) – now the Special Operations Engineer Regiment (SOER) – whose main job was to counter terrorist threats. In 2006, Sarbi and Corporal D were part of the security team at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, and in April 2007, the pair was sent to Afghanistan for a seven-month deployment. They primarily worked with Australian engineers who were part of the ISAF reconstruction team in Uruzgan Province, locating IEDs and saving many lives. In June 2008, Sarbi and Corporal D returned to Afghanistan for their second tour of duty there. This time they went to work with Australian SAS and commando units that were part of Special Operations Task Group 7.
On 2 September that year, Sarbi and Corporal D were members of a joint Australian–American Special Forces operation launched from a remote forward operating base 100 kilometres northeast of Tarin Kowt. The o
peration went terribly wrong when five Humvees carrying Australian, American and Afghan troops were ambushed by a much larger Taliban force. In the ensuing long battle, Corporal D was seriously wounded and became separated from Sarbi, who was also injured. While the ambushed men managed to fight their way back to the FOB, nine of the twelve Australians involved were wounded, as was their Afghan interpreter. Several of the American soldiers were also wounded in the battle. The handler of the American EDD on the mission died as a result of his wounds, although his dog was unharmed. It was during the last stages of this battle that Sarbi went missing on the battlefield. And so began the saga of Sarbi’s months – lost in Taliban territory.
After being ‘missing in action’ for thirteen months, Sarbi was wrangled back into friendly hands by a US Special Forces soldier. A month later, Sarbi and Corporal D were reunited at Tarin Kowt in front of the Australian Prime Minister and the commanding US general in Afghanistan. At the time of writing, Sarbi is still serving in the Australian Army. She is the most decorated dog in the history of the Australian military, having been awarded all the medals that Caesar receives in this book.
ENDAL
I was motivated to have the Fulton family give Caesar to Sergeant Charlie Grover VC to serve as his care dog after hearing the astonishing true story of Endal, the British service dog. Endal was a sandy-coloured male labrador who was trained by the UK charity Canine Partners. Initially thought to be of no use because of his poor health, Endal went on to qualify as a service dog and, in the late 1990s, was partnered with Allen Parton, a former Chief Petty Officer with Britain’s Royal Navy.
Parton had sustained serious injuries during the Gulf War, and was thereafter confined to a wheelchair. Initially, he couldn’t speak, so he taught Endal more than 100 commands using hand signals – just like the commands that Charlie teaches Caesar in this book. Endal could even put Parton’s cash card in ATMs and take out the money. Endal was so clever he could pull the plug out of the bath if Parton was to become unconscious, so that his master didn’t slip down and accidentally drown, before going to find help.
In 2009, Endal suffered a stroke – just as Ben Fulton’s former dog, Dodger, did – and had to be put down. During his lifetime, Endal became famous in Britain, receiving much media coverage and many awards for his dedicated and loyal service to his master. A young labrador named EJ (Endal Junior) took Endal’s place as Allen Parton’s care dog.