JONESY AND THE SCOUT DOGS

We were in the 8th Combat Engineers. Building LZ's was our primary function, but we did an airstrip now and then, and then we had the odds and ends jobs that always come along. This time we had been sent down to Bien Hoa to do some work and were staying at the 1st Cav R&R center. We were there the night there was a huge fight that broke out and a couple of guys were injured badly..but that's not what this story is about. This story is about Jonesy and the Scout Dogs.

We had finished for the day and were in hog heaven. There was hot water to shower with and for us, that was just an off the scale luxury. I had been in country for over 6 months before I'd had my first hot shower and this was my second one. Just to stand there and let the hot water rain on me was just heaven. All 4 of us lingered in the shower then got clean clothes on to go to the NCO club. That was the next stop on this working R&R we had going.

We got to the NCO club and a real live gal brought us our beers...and we were just happy as clams. We sat there drinking our beers, making stacks of the empties on the table, being loud and blowing off steam like everyone else in there, and enjoying a night away from the bush and some God-forsaken LZ out in the middle of nowhere. We were a long way from the perimeter wire instead of a few feet and it was guarded well, so we were really off duty.

We drank till around 10:00 PM and then figured we ought to get back and get some sleep. It was a short hump from the bar to our barracks, about a half mile. We started down the dark road, full of beer and being full of ourselves. We had gone about half way to our barracks and Jonesy wanted us to stop while he took a leak. Now it was as dark as it could get and we were on an untraveled dirt road, but Jonesy decided he had to get off the road to take a pee. Drunk logic. He wandered off into the darkness and then we heard him say, "What are all these little buildings for..." and that was just before about twenty Scout dogs hit the end of their chains, snarling, barking, and growling at Jonesy out there in the middle of them. He'd walked right out into the middle of where they had Scout dogs they were training...and they ALL woke up.

We heard Jonesy yell, but barely. We were all on the ground, laughing hysterically. We realized what he had done and couldn't help ourselves. We heard Jonesy out there yelling, the dogs barking, and the chains rattling, and all we could do was lay there laughing.

He made it out safely in a minute or two and was terribly hurt we were all laying there laughing instead of rushing to his rescue, but we couldn't help it....

Originally posted on 1st Cavalry Association Guest Book
by, and included here with permission from Steve Richey.

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