Answer to rdlght, War Dog Comes Home, North vs South

If you read comments on my post, Spousal Abuse, you will have seen the comment left by rdlght regarding child abuse. I’m not sure why this was commented on as if I’d deliberately left children out of the equation. The post was about spousal abuse. 

Child abuse is a subject I infrequently comment on. Not that I don’t want to help the millions of abused children, I do. But, I also realize that unless I actually see or hear actual abuse, there is very little I can do.

I can write my Congressman, my Representative, the President and the newspaper… things I have done in the past. I also know that unless it’s an election year and this happens to be a “hot” issue, I will get no response and it won’t change a thing.

This country plays a lot of lip service about the protection of it’s children, but until we lock pedophils away for life, give real protection to children who are abused by their mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts, etc., that’s all it is – lip service.

It’s been my sad experience that families will protect the abuser in their midst. They would rather let the abuse continue than to make themselves uncomfortable or embarrassed by stopping the abuse. The child suffers in silence – knowing that there is no help and the abuse will only get worse if they do tell.

So, dear rdlght, I understand your anger and your pain. I am assuming that you are a survivor. I hope this is the answer you sought when you commented. Please keep up your efforts as I do.

Blessings, Glo

 

F-18 Pilot Returns Home To Canine Friend From Iraqi War Zone

By Kristina Davis

Union-Tribune Staff Writer

 

Scott Linnett / Union-Tribune

Marine Major Brian Dennis greets Nubs

They spent months in an Iraqi war zone cementing a special bond.

But after more than a month of being apart, Marine Maj. Brian Dennis began to worry if Nubs the dog would still remember him, especially in a new place like San Diego.

Their reunion early Saturday at Camp Pendleton clearly showed otherwise.

The 2-year-old old dog, named for his two nubby ears, drenched Dennis’ face with doggie kisses and said hello with excited whimpers.

“You remember that, huh?” Dennis said as he rubbed the dog’s head.

Dennis, an F-18 pilot stationed at Miramar Marine Corp Air Station, was among several Marines to return home from a seven-month tour in Iraq early Saturday.

Among those who also returned was a group that fell in love with seven puppies and also had them brought back to San Diego. They plan to reunite with their new dogs at 3 p.m. At the Rancho Coastal Humane Society.

Nubs, a German shepherd/border collie mix, came to San Diego a month earlier after friends, family and complete strangers raised $3,500 for the dog’s trip out of Iraq.

“It’s almost like ‘Lassie Come Home’ in Iraq,” said Dennis’ mother, Marsha Cargo, who anxiously waited for the unit’s arrival in the wee hours of the morning.

Dennis met Nubs in the Al Anbar Province where the dog ran wild at an Iraqi Border Fort. When Nubs was a puppy, an Iraqi sliced off most of his ears in an attempt to make the dog tough and more alert.

Another time, Nubs was stabbed with a screwdriver, and Dennis nursed him back to health.

When Dennis’ unit, the Border Transition Team, moved camp 70 miles away, Nubs somehow tracked them to their new location two days later.

It was against the rules to keep the dog in camp, and friends jumped in to bring Nubs to San Diego.

“Once he found us there, it seemed like this was supposed to have happened,” Dennis said Saturday. “After he walked all that distance, it seemed like he was supposed to end up in San Diego.”

For the past month, Eric Sjoberg, one of Dennis’ Marine buddies, has been caring for Nubs along with Dennis’ other dog, Bogey.

Nubs has also been learning new tricks and how to behave in a different environment with some help from a dog trainer.

“After running two years out in the desert, he’s got a personality on him,” Sjoberg said.

Dennis said his first outing with Nubs will be a jog on the beach.

“It will consummate the whole journey, going from the sand of Iraq to the sand of San Diego.”

The first nice day in a week and we’ve enjoyed our outings. I took advantage of the warm sun and bathed both of my stinky furfaces. They need to smell good for Zeke’s vet visit and our trip to the mountains.

Now they both smell of jasmine and have fluffy, shining coats. Both are pouting with me. They are now out on the balcony wishing evil upon me. This will last until they need another walk or dinner. At which time, all will be forgiven. 

Jeff is having a week of warm sun and driving southern roadways… his favorite. Actually, he thinks all of us are nuts, can’t drive and should be banned from the roads.

He gets so cranky with the leisurely pace of southern drivers! Stop and smell the roses, I tell him! He growls, “I’d love to… if these people would just get out of my way so I could leave the interstate! The speed limit is 65! They’re going 35! What’s wrong with these people! I hate Georgia, Alabama, etc.!” Grouch!

Being a damn yankee, he just doesn’t get it. Poor man. I love him, so I try to make allowances for his misconceptions and constant need to get there in a hurry.

And he doesn’t like peas or beans, collards or turnips, either. And he hasn’t once begged me to make cornbread… and I make great cornbread.

                       He had a deprived childhood.

Blessings… Glo