A Soldier's Best Friend: Scout Dogs and Their Handlers in the Vietnam War Book

The book I chose to read is called 'A Soldier's Best Friend' by John C. Burnam. This author was actually a retired infantry man and dog handler during the Vietnam War in 1954 through 1975. John was a 19 year old man from Littleton, Colorado who trained in California and Georgia before he was drafted to the Vietnam War. It was interesting and melancholy because of the difficult experiences he had during the battles in South Vietnam.

One of the battles that really shocked me was the battle at Bong Son in South Vietnam. John and his platoon which consisted of twenty five soldiers were in search of enemy base camps when all of a sudden they were over run by a hundred Vietcong enemy soldiers. They suffered great casualties and had to order air strikes to kill the enemy. After the airplanes bombed their enemy which was close to their village, John was walking forward in search for any more surviving soldiers when he saw someone walk out a hut. It was a lady that was completely burned walking towards him. She put her hands on her mouth and tried speaking but she fell faced down on the floor and died right in front of him. I was shocked and felt depressed after I read this.

John begins training with scout dogs which are used for detecting mines, booby traps, enemy soldiers, and downed friendly soldiers. John trained with many German Shepherd scout dogs but the closest to him was named Clipper. He truly loved that dog and worked closely with him in the line of fire. He loved him almost as part of a family. One day when they were at their base camp the enemy bombed the camp and many scout dogs died and some were badly injured. John cannot save them because he would get killed by the bombs if he tries to go and save them. John eventually gets hurt by a bamboo spike to his knee and ends up leaving the war after his two years of service. He misses Clipper very dearly and many scout dogs are abandoned after the war is over.

I liked this book because I learned that war is very serious and yet you can become family with fellow soldiers you never knew. I would recommend this book to anybody who wants to know what soldiers go through or who wants to become a soldier in the future.