Lance Cpl. William H. Crouse IV, 22, was killed in action Dec. 21, 2010, along with his detection dog Cane by an IED in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He was from Woodruff, S.C., attached to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 10th Regiment from Camp Lejeune, N.C. Reports were that even as he lay dying, Lance Cpl. Crouse demanded that his wounded dog be put into the Medevac helicopter with him. They were evacuated together, but both died.
Thanks to Dennis Herrick for sharing his memorial with MWDTSA.
https://www.mwdtsa.org/wp-content/uploads/lance-cpl-William-Crouse-with-cane.jpg196126MWDTSAhttps://www.mwdtsa.org/wp-content/uploads/mwdtsa-website_headerlogo-01-2020-300x138.pngMWDTSA2011-12-06 00:25:002018-09-23 16:38:37A Memorial to Lance Cpl. William Crouse IV
Marine Pfc. Colton Rusk, 20, was shot on Dec. 6, 2010, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, I Marine Expeditionary Force based out of Camp Pendleton, Calif. A native of Corpus Christi, Texas, he was only six weeks into his first deployment. His dog, Eli, a black Laborador retriever, was not injured. Eli had crawled on top of Pfc. Rusk’s body during the firefight to shield him. The Defense Department allowed Pfc. Rusk’s family to adopt Eli.
Rest in peace, young Marine.
Thanks to Dennis Herrick for sharing his memorial information.
https://www.mwdtsa.org/wp-content/uploads/Marine-pfs-Colton-Rusk-and-Eli.jpg171126MWDTSAhttps://www.mwdtsa.org/wp-content/uploads/mwdtsa-website_headerlogo-01-2020-300x138.pngMWDTSA2011-11-29 03:33:002018-09-23 16:38:14A Memorial to Colton Rusk
Staff Sgt. James R. Ide V, 32, was killed Aug. 29, 2010, near Hyderabad, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, when his unit was attacked with small-arms fire. He was a specialized dog handler with the 230th Military Police Company, based in Sembach, Germany. He was a native of Festus, Mo. Sgt. Ide left a wife and two children. His dog Ddaphine was a 4-year-old Belgian malinois, which was wounded but survived. Staff Sgt. Ide was a veteran of two tours in Iraq and a tour of duty in South Korea.
Many thanks to Dennis Herrick for allowing me to borrow this memorial.
https://www.mwdtsa.org/wp-content/uploads/staff-sgt-James-Ide-and-ddaphine.jpg269169MWDTSAhttps://www.mwdtsa.org/wp-content/uploads/mwdtsa-website_headerlogo-01-2020-300x138.pngMWDTSA2011-11-15 06:19:002018-09-23 16:40:40A Memorial to James Ide
Cpl. Jeffrey R. Standfest, 23, was killed in action June 16, 2010, in an IED explosion in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Cpl. Standfest was a dog handler with the 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force. Cpl. Standfest had recently suffered a concussion in an IED explosion that killed his first dog. He had returned to duty with a new dog looking for more IEDs when he and that dog were killed. He was a native of St. Clair, Mich.
Thanks to Dennis Herrick of the VDHA for sharing this memorial.
https://www.mwdtsa.org/wp-content/uploads/cpl-Jeffrey-Steadcast.jpg453350MWDTSAhttps://www.mwdtsa.org/wp-content/uploads/mwdtsa-website_headerlogo-01-2020-300x138.pngMWDTSA2011-10-25 02:00:002018-09-23 16:39:38A Memorial to Jeffrey Standfest
Sgt. Jason L. Norton, 32, was killed in action Jan. 22, 2006, in Taji, Iraq, when his armored Humvee was struck by an IED. He was a patrol and dog-unit NCO assigned to 3rd Security Forces Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. Sgt. Norton, a patrol and K-9 officer, had been stationed in Alaska in 2002-2004. Sgt. Norton was a native of Miami, Okla., and left a wife and two children.
This is the second of several memorials that I will be placing on the Blog. I’ve personally always had trouble writing about our Handlers and Dogs who have died because I feel it can be very intrusive on the families and we certainly want to show them respect. Fortunately for me, Dennis Herrick, the editor of DOGMAN, with whom I have have shared some of my articles, did me the courtesy of sharing a gracious and respectful set of memorials with me. They will be posted on the Blog one at a time. With each posting, I hope you will remember the team, the handler’s family and friends who still mourn and the military family left to mourn a loss of their own.
With deep respect,
Dixie
https://www.mwdtsa.org/wp-content/uploads/Jason-L.-Norton.png158126MWDTSAhttps://www.mwdtsa.org/wp-content/uploads/mwdtsa-website_headerlogo-01-2020-300x138.pngMWDTSA2011-08-05 09:41:002016-08-17 10:54:47A Memorial to Jason L. Norton
Sgt. Adam L. Cann, 23, died trying to protect his fellow soldiers and civilians at a police recruitment center on Jan. 5, 2006, at Ramadi, Iraq. When his dog Bruno became agitated by the scent of explosives, according to witnesses, Sgt. Cann confronted a suicide bomber, who then detonated a vest. Bruno was wounded but recovered. Sgt. Cann had served a combat tour in Afghanistan and was on his second tour in Iraq. He was attached to the 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force. He was from Davie, Fla. Sgt. Cann was the first U.S. dog handler killed since the Vietnam War. The Marine Corps Logistics Base, Barstow, named the base’s kennel the “Adam L. Cann K-9 Facility” in Sgt. Cann’s honor
This is the first of several memorials that I will be placing on the Blog. I’ve personally always had trouble writing about our Handlers and Dogs who have died because I feel it can be very intrusive on the families and we certainly want to show them respect. Fortunately for me, Dennis Herrick, the editor of DOGMAN, with whom I have have shared some of my articles, did me the courtesy of sharing a gracious and respectful set of memorials with me. They will be posted on the Blog one at a time. With each posting, I hope you will remember the team, the handler’s family and friends who still mourn and the military family left to mourn a loss of their own.
With deep respect,
Dixie
https://www.mwdtsa.org/wp-content/uploads/Adam-Cann.png141168MWDTSAhttps://www.mwdtsa.org/wp-content/uploads/mwdtsa-website_headerlogo-01-2020-300x138.pngMWDTSA2011-07-30 09:11:002018-09-23 16:41:20A Memorial to Adam Cann
I am returning home after an emotional, hectic and jam-packed four day trip to MacDill AFB and the greater Tampa, FL area. The trip was really wonderful and will be the source of at least a couple more Blog entries. However, the first entry that I must make is in memory of Ron Bullock, a dog handler with the 47th IPSD (Infantry Platoon Scout Dog.)
During my 9 hour drive down to the Tampa, Florida area, I received a call from one of our great supporters down there who said that she wanted to give me a head’s up that there had been an incident at MacDill. She proceeded to read part of the local newspaper to me:
Ron Bullock, a former dog handler, had been shot and killed by an off duty FBI agent on the MacDill base. My head was spinning. While I don’t have the pleasure of knowing the majority of the Vietnam era handlers, Ron was not only a handler that I knew, but one that I felt connected with and liked. The last that I knew, he was in Massachusetts. What are the odds that he would be at MacDill and this incident would happen as I was heading down there?
What I do want people to know is a fuller story of Ron.
We met in May of 2002 at the reunion of the 47th IPSD at Fort Benning. During the course of the weekend, Ron fully attached himself with our group, helping us work the event and was a great deal of fun. Lots of laughter.
This was the first reunion at which many of my friends offered letters of belated thanks to the handlers in Vietnam, recognizing that this generation of veterans had been treated badly. I was busy with so many thousands of details in the weeks of preparation preceding the event that I didn’t have time to write to all of the handlers. I did, however, write to Ron because his dog, Ebony, was my first real connection with War Dogs. (Another of Ebony’s handlers, Joseph White, had written a book about this solid black German shepherd dog. The book, Ebony and White, was a Christmas gift to me because I had a solid black German shepherd dog.)
Upon hearing of Ron’s death, the first person I called was Jonathan Wahl, our MWDTSA webmaster and a member of Ron’s platoon in Vietnam. Jonathan shared the news with Ron’s fellow 47th IPSD veterans. They have shared the following with me:
Ron served with honor in the 47th IPSD which was based at LZ Sally in Vietnam. On July 1, 1969, Ron took an RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade) and had head wounds. He would have been sent to Japan, except for the head wounds and he was sent instead to a hospital ship. Ron was returned to the unit within 30 days. Ron reported that he was suffering from headaches. He suffered PTSD and was a 100% disabled Vietnam Veteran.
I look at these photos of Ron with me and my friends and I remember a fun loving, happy man. I try to contemplate the odds of me heading to MacDill at the same time this incident happened, but I cannot make the numbers work. The statistics on that are beyond my comprehension. I know there is a purpose that God has connected me to this incident and I am still sorting it out.
For me, the earth has shifted a bit and the universe is realigning.
Please see Ron in the photos on this Blog Entry. First with Claire, who brought him lots of laughter. With our working group at a spontaneous lunch hosted by Stan Stockdale, the 47th IPSD LT. In front of the War Dog Memorial at Fort Benning with members of his platoon and then at another reunion at Beaumont.
Rest in Peace, Ron.
https://www.mwdtsa.org/wp-content/uploads/Ron-Bullock.jpg10941600MWDTSAhttps://www.mwdtsa.org/wp-content/uploads/mwdtsa-website_headerlogo-01-2020-300x138.pngMWDTSA2010-05-24 07:30:002020-04-04 16:19:05In Memory of Ronald Bullock
Here’s a photo of SSD Bubba, a Lab, and his handler having some fun during training. Why is it important for a dog to run pell-mell after a ball? Suppose Bubba just found an IED and you want him out of the dangerous area as quickly as possible. Send him out of the area after his ball.
One of Bubba’s compatriots – Labwise, not American-wise – just won a Hero Dog Award. And, we wanted to share this story with you. Thanks to our ever investigative website guru for this link. Follow the link to the story.
https://www.mwdtsa.org/wp-content/uploads/SGT-Roye-and-SSD-Bubba.jpg10601600MWDTSAhttps://www.mwdtsa.org/wp-content/uploads/mwdtsa-website_headerlogo-01-2020-300x138.pngMWDTSA2010-02-25 07:06:002020-04-04 16:23:26War Dog Hero
