Buster: The Military Dog Who Saved a Thousand Lives
By: RAF Police Flight Sergeant Will Barrow, Isabel George / Narrated By: James Langton
Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
Loved this, and what a tremendous partnership!
The thing I LOVE about Military Dogs is just how many lives they save; not only through their work in finding IEDs and contraband, but dang! they earn the trust and love of so many men and women who serve willingly, selflessly, courageously. Without the warm and loving presence of a good dog, how on earth do we expect our Military, our servicemen and women to see what they see, to do what they do, to let go of what they must. They witness some pretty horrific things, and they’re tasked with some onerous work. But truly: “Who’s A Good Dog!” is probably something a LOT of individuals at war love to be able to say.
Enter K9 Veterans Day, where such dogs are remembered and honored. Dunno that animals can feel fear as looming tension, possible death. But they certainly know bad shit when they come across it, and their loyalty and devotion to their handlers and friends is just AWEsome and must be quite the motivator; maybe not as much as being able to play Ball after a good Find, but love between species, esPECially during fraught and violent times, is about the best danged thing in the world.
Buster, the story of an English springer spaniel who served five (Count ‘em, FIVE!) tours of duty in three separate conflicts (Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq), is among veteran author Isabel George’s best (ANY Military Animal story is always made engaging and touching with her way with words). Here, she takes the history of RAF Police Flight Sergeant Will Barrow and Buster, and shapes it so that Barrow’s story-crafting and writing are easy to read and quite simply? Just lovely.
The story opens with Barrow in need of a new dog for his latest deployment. He sends out signals, and one Veteran tells him: I’ve just the PERFECT dog for your needs. Enter Buster, a ridiculously competent and charming character. I usually hate it when the strengths of animals are harnessed, thus turning them from sentient beings to just equipment (Thinking of working at the School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and seeing just how poorly THAT frequently works for seeing-eye dogs…), and certainly history has oodles of hair-raising stories of how that has worked in the past (Think: Leaving brave and loyal working dogs behind in Vietnam, just so much used equipment).
But Buster is a super duper Wonder Dog Extraordinaire, and it’s really rather heartbreaking when Barrow happily accepts him as his new partner. This breaks up what had been a special bond between Buster and his recent partner, and it’s really kinda Not A Dry Eye In The House type of deal. That must’ve been beyond excruciating… but… equipment is equipment, and Buster was trained and is still healthy and capable.
Fortunately, Barrow has a warm and loving personality himself, plus he’s able to enforce the discipline necessary for Buster to do his job properly. This is sometimes difficult as, for servicemen and servicewomen who’ve seen much, have had to do much, who have lived under threat of attack and sudden horrific death? Well, letting loose with a snowball fight and having Buster join in can be a joyful release of pent up emotion for them. Barrow has to drag Buster (Most decidedly NOT a happy event for the pup!) back to the kennels because Ball Play Time is ONLY for use as his reward for a successful Find. A ball is a ball is a snowball is a ball and all that. Buster works it for all he’s worth, and several times through the duo’s deployment leave Barrow feeling desperately guilty and heartbroken to the point that Barrow HAS to sit with him, cuddle him, explain WHY he can’t play this game, scarf that offered treat. ANYone who feels that bad for doing their duty is totally okay by me (I often cave in and dole out snackies to m’ own fuzzbags, like, 1/2-hour early cuz o’ those woeful eyes, those pitiful meows…).
James Langton does a truly wonderful job in conveying Barrow’s journey with Buster, giving warmth to the love and devotion between the two. It’s beYONd obvious that, to Barrow, Buster is IT, the perfect partner, the Best. Dog. EVER. Theirs is a bond that increases with each trauma witnessed, each terror-inducing search undertaken. My only quibble with Langton is the quick parts where Barrow has Leave, goes back to England and finds his temper rising at small things, feeling claustrophobia and always on the lookout for escape routes. That he feels, yes he’s back home, but no, he’ll never be Home again. Or at least not for a very long time. PTSD? You betcha, but Langton kinda adds a sense of warm whimsy that detracts from the very real difficulties in transitioning from total War to near-total Peace. Other than that, however, it really felt as tho’ I was listening to Barrow himself, with all the wry asides, all the humor, and certainly all the horrors of frequent attacks, of possible death looming.
I ain’t gonna rain on your parade regarding how this all ends, but it was a satisfying conclusion to a remarkable journey the two went on together.
Just an awesome tale of two pretty heroic beings, a grand partnership.
You know, what K9 Veterans Day SHOULD be about!
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