Drafted in 1969, John was put through basic training to ready him and his cohort of recruits for Vietnam. Quickly, John showed promise in the Army and was offered the chance to train as a non-commissioned officer. “I was 18”, explains John. “I didn’t want the responsibility for others. I just wanted to get out there and do my thing.”

John didn’t have to wait long before the opportunity arose to do just that. “I was put with a casual company and while we were awaiting orders, I had the opportunity to volunteer to go to scout dog school. I’d never had a dog before I took to it straight away. It almost felt too good to be true – being paid 150 bucks a month to take care of a dog. I absolutely loved it.”

On completing scout dog school, John had 30 days’ leave before deploying to Vietnam for 11 months and two weeks, in April of 1970. “I was part of the 42nd Scout Dog Platoon which was attached to the 101st Airborne Division. As soon as I got there, I was paired with Artus K012.”

Artus K012

Artus was one of the first scout dogs in the 101st to be sent to war. He had already worked with five different handlers before he and John were paired together. “He was so experienced. He saved my life a couple of times and made sure I got home without a scratch on me.”

John and Artus’ job was to go out with different units and walk point, alerting on anything that seemed suspect. “I had to interpret what my dog was telling me”, explains John. “I didn’t always get it right but Artus was expert at putting his point across – and thank god he was!” 

On one such occasion, Artus and John were leading the way up a steep hill trail when Artus would perform his life-saving work. “I used to do a kissing sound to Artus to get him to stay or come back to me – we’d perfected our mode of communication and it worked a charm. He knew just what I wanted from him.

“On this mission, he had reached the top of the hill trail and I made my signal for him to stay. As I approached and told Artus to move forward, he wouldn’t budge, which he had never done before. I even gave him a little knee in the butt and motioned to step around him, but he moved his body in front of me so I couldn’t pass. I called down to the team that something wasn’t right but couldn’t tell what it was. I got down and the “slack man” came up and went around to find a trip wire, a few feet from where Artus was planted.”

There’s no telling the damage that would have been caused if Artus had not stood his ground in that moment. “He could probably hear the wire vibrating in the breeze or smell the explosives. Whatever alerted him to the presence of that trap, he saved us all that day. I never put my knee in his butt again after that.”

The bond John shared with Artus was unbreakable. “We spent every moment together and Artus was very protective of me”, explains John. “I used to have to warn the other guys not to come near me at night or Artus would take a chunk out of them. Many times, I woke up to the sound of Artus sinking his teeth into several of the guys who had walked by me. It was the only time he got really feisty, but the guys didn’t forget it once they crossed him!”

As the soldiers progressed up the ladder, they were moved out of patrolling positions and given responsibility for different facets of the camp, including training, supplies, vehicles and the bar in camp. “When you reach that point, the only time you go out is with the new guys. It was at that point that I had to give Artus up to a new handler.

“I hated staying behind and I’d much rather have Artus with me – I felt much safer with him around.”

As well as taking care of his new assignment in camp, John was also called upon to show the new dog handlers the ropes. “I loved the opportunity to go out with new guys, observing them and helping to train the new dogs. It was my hope that I could teach them stuff that would keep them alive and bring them home.”

Tragically, after being paired with a new handler, Artus was killed by an enemy ambush, hidden near a riverbank. “I hate to say it, but I believe his new handler was responsible for his death. Artus went over a concealed riverbank and had been brutally shot by enemy combatants. I’d have never let him out of my sight.”

John explains a little more about why he believes Artus’ new handler to be responsible for his best friend’s demise. “In Vietnam, there were three types of soldier. Or, you could say, there were three approaches to surviving over there. The religious ones, who had strong faith and high morals and tended to remain on the straight and narrow; the ‘juicers’, who drank a lot and the ‘heads’, who smoked a lot of pot. I hate to say that Artus was paired with a ‘head’, and that is one of the reasons he didn’t take good enough care of him when it mattered.”

Taste of Home

As well as finding solace and a means to cope for the young men who found themselves in the hellish conditions of the Vietnam war, there were a number of kind souls who took it upon themselves to send care packages to the troops, providing them with a welcome taste of home. John was on the receiving end of the kindness of one stranger, who wound up becoming a great friend. “Jackie McIntyre from a German Shepherd club in Minneapolis St Paul, Minnesota, adopted our platoon and sent care packages once a month. She’d include canned goods, snacks and treats for the dogs. I would write letters back to her to say thank you and we really came to rely on those little slices of home, coming to the jungle each month.

“Emboldened by Jackie’s kindness and steadfastness, our sergeant asked her to send some Playboy magazines for the young soldiers. She sent her husband out to buy them and happily sent them in our next package.”

On 6 May 2006, John put pen to paper and wrote Jackie for the first time. John was humbled to meet the kind sender of the care packages at a Vietnam dog handlers’ reunion in 2010. “The kindness of people back home meant the world to us. I didn’t know it at the time but Jackie’s action would inspire me to take action to support the K-9 community in my own way, later on in life.”

The Price of War

Reflecting on his 11 months and two weeks in Vietnam, John is pensive. “I wrote a book to help explain to my family what went on there, but it certainly isn’t a tell-all. There is so much I can’t talk about, even now.”

When John arrived home from Vietnam, he wanted nothing to do with the military. “There were a few associations that reached out but I shut them all down. It was too painful to acknowledge that part of my life so I put it in a box and tried to move on. I worked a few different jobs – it’s how I coped with the things I did and saw.

“The weight of losing guys that I had trained up when they came to Vietnam has stayed with me every single day and has almost dragged me under before now.”

Quiet and deliberate with his words, his voice laden with emotion, John explains: “So much crap went on over there, I just wanted to block it all out and trying to fill my mind with anything other than those feelings of intense guilt and grief. But to run and hide does nothing but amplify the demons and make them more overwhelming.

“No matter how old a service member is. No matter which war they fought in, we all saw shit that haunts us and lost people that rips us to our core. I didn’t speak a word about my struggles for nearly 40 years and it did me no good. My advice to anyone in a similar position to me is to face the grief; seek comfort in your military brothers and don’t let those dark thoughts drown you.”

A few years after returning from Vietnam, John found a happy home with the Fire Department and stayed in the service for 20 years. “I loved it with all my heart, but there were some big organizational changes that really took the fun out of it for me, so it was time to move on.”

After his time as a fireman, John started his own construction company; was a chauffeur for celebrities and worked a few factory jobs. “Keeping busy and making changes occupied my mind and helped me to dodge thoughts of my past.” //

But when John went to watch his granddaughters in their Veteran’s Day assembly at school, something moved within him. “It really got to me. Finally, 37 years after leaving Vietnam, I contacted the VFW and volunteered my services, to ensure that proper funeral rights were bestowed upon veterans when they passed.”

After running headlong from his military past, John was now spending his time writing and delivering eulogies, arranging for a rifle team to attend funerals to fire three volleys and ensuring that a folded US flag was presented to the family of the fallen service member, showing honor and respect for their service.

John also recalls: “My hometown of Kokomo, Indiana, plays host to the largest and oldest Vietnam reunion and this year marks the 41st time the veterans have met to share stories and enjoy fellowship. Until 2007, you could count the number of times I had attended on one hand. It was just too painful.

“A friend of mine – who I now consider closer than a brother – bumped into me one day while I visited the Vietnam Memorial in town. I didn’t know it at the time, but he appeared when I needed him most. I recall walking into the light of the sun and seeing him appearing in the distance. He lives in Ohio, so it’s not like I expected to see him there, either. He encouraged me to go to the next reunion and seek solace and brotherhood with my fellow veterans. I’ve not looked back since that moment.”



A New Chapter

John’s voluntary role with VFW had opened the door to other opportunities with non-profits, working to the benefit of the military community. “I’d been asked to help raise money to send some cooling vests to MWDs in Iraq and Afghanistan. I blew up some old photos of me and Artus in Vietnam and visited a few local restaurants, holding talks and chatting to people about life as a K-9 handler. I really got a taste for it – I loved telling the story of K-9 and seeing the reactions of people as they learned how incredible these dogs are.”

John began to plan his own way to send care packages to the deployed dog teams in the Middle East. “I was struggling to get hold of the addresses to send stuff out to the guys so I contacted Ron Aiello at US War Dogs for some advice. We chatted at length and when I explained what I wanted to do, he invited me to form a chapter of War Dogs. He hooked me up with the dog teams and I was off and running!”

John recalls one of the best parts of his role in Chapter 3 is receiving feedback from the dog teams who received care packages. “Nothing gives me greater pleasure than hearing from the guys and gals I’d sent items to and how much it meant to them, receiving gifts from home, knowing that someone was thinking of them and grateful for their service.”

The first handler John met face to face was Virdiana Lavalle, who was a kennel master in Afghanistan when she received her first care packages from US War Dogs Chapter 3. “She’s such a sweetheart and when we met, we formed an instant friendship. Virdiana is now an Army sergeant major and has done incredible things in her career. She also helped me adopt two former MWDs who were retiring from service.”

It was fairly inevitable that John would provide homes to retired MWDs, given his deep connection to the K-9 community. “My first adopted MWD was Abel, who was flown back to the States from Korea by Mission K-9 Rescue. I picked him up from Missouri and we spent a wonderful year together before he passed.”

The second retired MWD also found his way home to John via Virdiana was Brutusz. “He was retiring out of Pacific Command so we went to Hawaii to pick him up. The kennels held a beautiful retirement ceremony for him where the kennel master spoke about Brutusz’ career highlights. At the end of the service, his current handler formally handed the leash to me and my wife and the famous ode, Guardians of the Night was read out. It was a very moving moment.”

Brutusz has served his career with the Military Police as a patrol and explosive detection dog (PEDD) and found it hard to shake his working tendencies. “I’d take him to the VFW and he’d go to town, sniffing the jacket pocket of some of the guys coming through. They’d look quizzical and I’d ask, ‘when was the last time you fired your pistol?’ Brutusz could detect the gunpowder, even if the gun had been fired days before.”

But bringing his highly trained nose to the VFW wasn’t Brutusz’ only gift. “When he was beside me, I felt like I was walking with Artus again. The similarities between them were so strong – not just in stature and aesthetics, but in their presence and spirit. He brought me so much comfort and made me feel closer to the best friend I’d ever had.”

Brutusz accompanied John on over 170 talks, presentations and appearances with US War Dogs Chapter 3. “Brutusz was a fantastic ambassador for the K-9 community and everyone adored him, wherever we went. He was a magnet for chicks and children, who always gave generously to our cause once they’d been charmed by him.”

John also reflects on the impact that Jackie – the kind lady who sent care packages to his unit while in Vietnam – had on him, even many years later. “Her unwavering kindness during my time deployed really stayed with me and I really felt it was my time to pay it forward.”

Paying It Forward

Setting up US War Dogs Chapter 3 has created opportunities for John to share his knowledge and passion for the K-9 community, all over the US. “I’ve taken on the challenge of fundraising, which is the single biggest hurdle a small non-profit will ever face. I just keep ahead of the credit card bills but ultimately, if a request comes in from a dog team, I’ll move heaven and earth to fulfil it, even if it means paying for the gear out of my own money.”

The changes in the world brought on by COVID have included the death of some of John’s most financially lucrative K-9 events, as far as fundraising goes. “We used to attend an event in Michigan that generated a good $3-4,000 for the non-profit, but that went under as a result of the pandemic and our bottom line has suffered as a result.

“I am often invited to speak at events and Brutusz would come along as guest of honor. But those events often pay richly in awareness and not so well in dollars and cents. It’s so important to shout about the role of K-9… it’s something I will never tire of. I loved it most when Brutusz was by my side.”

John’s hard work and dedication to the K-9 community over the last 16 years has been steadfast and unwavering. Chapter 3 has provided over $100,000 worth of care packages and gear items to dog teams across the globe and brought a slice of home to deployed K-9s who were dug deep in the depths of war. “I am so grateful to Chris for picking up the gauntlet with US War Dogs Association. I owe a lot to Ron – both in terms of my personal connection to the organization but also, for what he has done to raise the profile of MWDs in Vietnam and beyond.

“I’ll never take for granted, this tremendous community I joined as a young man in Vietnam. The experiences I had scarred my soul on a level I may never be able to express, but the dog that delivered me safely home without a scratch and the dogs I’ve enjoyed as a result of that bond, have brought me untold happiness. Sharing K-9 with the world in the way that I have, has been both cathartic and incredibly life-affirming for me. Being a part of US War Dogs brings me a huge sense of pride – a pride that I share every day with Artus – my dog in a million.

“Like many K-9 handlers in Vietnam, I also walk every day with the grief of the dogs who didn’t make it back home. Every talk I give or conversation I have about K-9 stands to honor their sacrifice. They will never be forgotten and live on in this incredible community that I am so very proud to be a part of.”