The K9 above is Brutus, a military K9 at McChord. He's huge - part Boxer and part British Bull Mastiff and tops the scales at 200 lbs.

His handler took the picture. Brutus is running toward me because he knows I have some Milk Bone treats, so he's slobbering away! I had to duck around a tree just before he got to me in case he couldn't stop, but he did.

Brutus won the Congressional Medal of Honor last year from his tour in Iraq . His handler and four other soldiers were taken hostage by insurgents.

Brutus and his handler communicate by sign language and he gave Brutus the signal that meant 'go away but come back and find me'.

The Iraqis paid no attention to Brutus. He came back later and quietly tore the throat out of one guard at one door and another guard at another door.

He then jumped against one of the doors repeatedly (the guys were being held in an old warehouse) until it opened. He went in and untied his handler and they all escaped.

He's the first K9 to receive this honor. If he knows you're ok, he's a big old lug and wants to sit in your lap. He also enjoys the company of cats.

K-9 Congressional Medal of Honor Winner

Thought you'd find this interesting. Talk about animal intelligence and bonding with humans!

If he ever sires pups, I'll take two.

Sorry, please don't call me a spoiler or the Snopes police but this is Spike the Belgian Malanois a police K9...

http://www.snopes.com/photos/military/brutus.asp

Durn yore hide Ted! There ain't nothing like facts to kill a perfectly good thread!

I thought I smelled a little BS when I read the part about "go away and come back later."

Sort of reminded me of, "What is it Lassie? Timmy is where? Fell in the well. you say."

Let's not demean the Medal of Honor by propogating this hoax or any stories of the Medal of Honor being awarded to a dog.

There's a book coming out in October that tells the stories of the MWD's (Military War Dogs) through history.

Did you know that the Europeans had used dogs on the battlefields for various functions for decades. The U.S. military until the mid 1900's didn't believe dogs had any use.

Did you know that the most decorated dog in US military history was a pit bull named Stumpy? Stumpy received a Purple Heart from Black Jack Pershing and numerous other medals for savings hundreds of Allied troops from artillery and gas attacks.

In Vietnam there were more than 5000 MWD's in use. When the war ended the pentagon bureaucrats decided the dogs were too dangerous to return to civilian life (a myth) and gave them all to the Vietnamese. Guess what they did with them?

Lots of great stories in this book if you are into this topic.

It's called Paws to Protect

quote:

Originally posted by billhud:
Let's not demean the Medal of Honor by propogating this hoax or any stories of the Medal of Honor being awarded to a dog.

+1

Didn't we see a similar thread...very similar...some months ago?

Be safe.