The Little Beagle That Saved an Army Patrol
By Larry Lee, BraceBeagling Editor
May 10, 2004

Andy Leach. Andy aptly named the little beagle, Charlie Dog.

We know in our sport of brace beagling we have many rejects that never make it to the rank of brace trial beagle. Many of our hounds are sold or given away for pets. They make fine companions in that capacity and are usually cherished by the families that adopt them. Every now and then we hear of a beagle that is used to sniff out drugs at airports and other significant locations. This story is about a little beagle named Charlie Dog who traveled with a patrol for nearly a year during the Viet Nam conflict. I am sure it will make your love for our little merry hounds grow even stronger. As you will see Charlie Dog was much more than just a beagle.

This story was related to me by my good friend and fellow worker, Andy Leach. Andy and I work together at the old Buick City Complex in Flint, Michigan. We work in one of the four plants left standing after the demise of Buick City several years ago. Andy is a top- notch millwright with a tremendous work ethic. He loves his trade and is very proficient at it.

Andy served in Viet Nam at the age of 22 during an 11-month period in 1967 in the Fourth Mechanized Infantry Division. His battalion contained 3000 soldiers who were first trained together at Fort Lewis in Washington State. He was part of a patrol of eight soldiers. His job was to drive and maintain an armored personnel carrier called an APC. His unit served as a support group and was on call at all times to be rushed into a nearby area that was under attack. Andy said, “We were always on the move.”

After basic training at Fort Hood, Andy’s unit was shipped by carrier to the shores of Viet Nam where they were loaded unto small landing crafts that carried them ashore. Andy said, “It reminded me of the Second World War when the troops hit the shore at Normandy with the exception that we weren’t getting shot at.” Once ashore they were loaded unto trucks that took them to their final destination before being dispatched to other areas in the war zone.

His group slept mostly on the ground during the entire 11 months he was in Viet Nam. “We had a brand new APC with a new cover. We used that cover as a makeshift lean-to. We slept under it during many pouring rain storms.” Andy said that one time during one of those terrible storms water was actually flowing up to and coming in his ears.

The drivers had to be especially careful driving the APC’s through the rubber ice like surface of the porous Viet Nam soil. It was easy for the tracks to break through the surface and become stuck in the seemingly bottomless morass. When this happened they were sitting ducks for the enemy. With developed skill and practice, Andy became very proficient at maneuvering his vehicle without hanging it up in the mud.

Charlie Dog (Andy named the beagle Charlie Dog because of the little dog’s hatred for the enemy) became part of Andy’s life in a somewhat casual way like most dogs enter people’s lives. Andy’s group traveled to an old French built airfield to help build a base camp. They were there for a month. Some of Andy’s friends from another platoon found Charlie Dog and brought him back to the base camp. They were clearing an enemy tunnel system near the Black Virgin Mountains and found Charlie Dog tied in one of those never ending tunnels. He was frail and not at all in very good shape. Possibly, that is one reason the enemy left him there. The Viet Cong liked to use dog meat for one of their staples. The platoon brought Charlie Dog back to the base camp where he roamed among the soldiers. That is until he met Andy and the seven other members of his patrol.

Andy doesn’t totally recall just how Charlie Dog became a fixture in his life. “One day he was just there. I had always liked dogs. We took a liking to each other and he became our patrol’s mascot. From that point on, Charlie Dog traveled primarily with Andy’s patrol. He had found a home.

Charlie Dog did whatever he liked. “He traveled in our APC. Sometimes he rode up on the top and at other times he rode down in the inside. “He mainly rode wherever he felt the most comfortable. He became part of the crew,” Andy said.

As part of the crew, the little beagle performed vital responsibilities. Andy said, “Every night Charlie Dog would check every member of our crew to make sure they were all right. He would take a sniff and nuzzle each member of the crew with his nose. It was just enough to let him know that everything was ok with each member of the crew. Then he could relax.”

Charlie Dog would even check on a member who was stationed at the listening post. According to Andy, the platoon would assemble together each evening and arrange their APC’s in a circle somewhat like the early American settlers circled their wagon trains when they were heading west. There were 16 of them all together. Outside the circle of APCs the soldiers would set up a system of claymore mines that could be set off in case the enemy attacked. The listening post was set up in the jungle outside the claymore mine field.

Andy was stationed at the listening post one very dark evening. It was around one of two in the morning. Andy said, “I couldn’t see my hand before my face. I was leaning against a tree and all of a sudden I heard the bushes in the jungle start to rustle. The hair almost stood up on my arms. I thought for sure it was the enemy but I didn’t fire because I was always taught not to shoot until I could distinguish what I was shooting at. But it was only Charlie Dog coming out to see if I was all right. He checked me out and then he left.”

Charlie Dog also had a great fear and a hatred for the enemy and could easily identify them. “One night we were on reconnaissance and Charlie Dog started barking and raising hob. We immediately stopped our progress and sure enough Charlie Dog had stopped us from walking directly into an ambush. Undoubtedly he saved many lives that night.”

Andy's patrol always shared their food with Charlie Dog. “We always cut cards each evening to see who received the first choice of the c-rations that day. No one liked ham and lima beans including Charlie Dog. However, he would sort through them and pick out what he could stomach.” I asked Andy if Charley Dog was ever included in the cutting of the cards. Any replied, “Charlie Dog was smart but he wasn’t that fussy.”

When Andy’s assignment in Viet Nam was nearing an end his patrol became concerned about what would happen to Charlie Dog when they left Viet Nam. “We even considered arranging to take him home with us. But then Charlie Dog settled the matter on his own. When we returned to the base camp to prepare for departure, Charlie Dog began to stray and it wasn’t long before he found another dog to pal with. I believe he was going to start a family of his own. It was either a happy ending for him or a happy beginning,” Andy said.

Andy didn’t see Charlie Dog much during his last two weeks in Viet Nam. Andy agreed to be pulled back to the field in order to not have to serve an extra 90 days when he returned to the states. “It wasn’t a good decision for me because the fighting became very intense. It was during the Tet Offensive. Many soldiers didn’t make it through that two-week period.” Andy was in the field until just two hours before he left Viet Nam for good. He was rushed back to the base camp and was quickly ushered unto a Chinook helicopter. “I jumped on without hardly any of my possessions.” Andy’s last memory of Charley Dog was seeing him running with another dog.

Andy has never forgotten that little beagle named Charley Dog. In fact he thought so much of Charlie Dog that early in his career as a millwright he pinned that name on a fellow worker that he admired greatly and the name actually stuck. The man is still known in shop circles as Charley Dog to this day. Regarding this Andy said, “The memory of Charlie Dog continues on for me by letting someone else carry his name and reputation as a tribute. Charlie Childer’s first name was Charley. He was calm and easygoing and well tempered. He was a friend with everyone with no special favorite. He was just like the Charlie Dog in Viet Nam.”

Andy will enter University of Michigan hospital here in Michigan Wednesday for surgery for melanoma related cancer that has attacked the lymph nodes in his neck. I know he would welcome everyone’s prayers as he travels through this valley. Andy knows that if Charlie Dog were available he would be right there by his side during this troubled period in his life. My bet is that he will be there in spirit and will be checking Andy every night.