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Jonathan Wahl, 47th Infantry Platoon Scout Dog Veteran , stopping by for Top Dogs Kennesaw

MWDTSA Webmaster and 47th Infantry Platoon Scout Dog Veteran stopped by Top Dogs for a quick visit and “scouting” opportunity at the Kennesaw store on his way through on I-75. While there, he visited with employee Mandy Andree and checked out the items being requested for our dogs, including the KONGs, Solid Gold Shampoo and Conditioners, and grooming supplies.

Thanks to all of our great partner stores for their support, KONGs and other supplies will be in our Christmas packages.

Jonathan Wahl on long hike in the mountains
Jonathan Wahl on long hike in the mountains

Jonathan Wahl on long hike in the mountains

What a real treat. Our website guru, Jonathan, was a member of the 47th IPSD and he manages his unit’s website as well. We were talking today about doing some video and how to best get it online when he referred me to this treasure of video only as an example of how we could put something online. When I saw it, I absolutely had to share with everyone.

As you will see, this was taken by one of the Platoon Commanders, James Bradshaw. It will be a real eye-opener for all of the young folks who never knew life before the digital age, but it is a great opportunity to share some video of the dogs and handlers with the 47th who were in support of the 101st. Much of the time, they were based in Hue, South Vietnam which was up in I Corps. Keep in mind, these handlers were trained at Fort Benning as Infantry, not MPs. After viewing the video go into the website proper and get a real sense of the way handlers in Vietnam worked. Lots of stories, photos and history are stored here. Great job, Jonathan. Enjoy the video everyone.
(Photo of Jonathan on long hike in the mountains.)

Click on the link below to see the Vietnam era video. By the way, the dog footage is around minute mark 13. The entire footage is about 37 minutes long.
http://47ipsd.us/47vidjmb.htm

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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.

Ron-Bullock-reunion Reunion 2002 Fort Benning Reunion 2004 Beaumont