Quoted Text

ROTTERDAM
Firefighters send gifts to military K-9s
Donations bound for Iraq, Afghanistan
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

    It can be a dog’s life for military K-9 handlers in the Middle East.
    On good days, these troops work among unfamiliar units and won’t be around long enough to make friends. On bad days, they face perilous conditions while trying tp identify concealed bombs or booby traps.
    “If you’re the one out front, you’re the one that could set off a trap or get shot,” said Ron Aiello, president of the U.S. War Dogs Association, a nonprofi t support group for the soldiers and their dogs.
    Carman firefighters Joe VanDerwerker and Tom Zarecki read about the plight of military K-9 teams on the New Jerseybased association’s Web site. At the time, they were searching for a cause to which to donate $1,500 the fire district had left over from its 75th anniversary celebration.
    The department had previously donated funds to a care package drive for members of the Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing, while the Glenville-based unit was deployed. That effort ended once the guard members returned home last year.
    The fi refighters agreed the extra money could be put toward a good cause in supporting other troops. So when VanDerwerker and Zarecki suggested putting the money toward buying holiday gift packages for the handlers and their dogs, the fi re department unanimously backed the move.
    “Everybody kind of said, ‘Sure, lets do it,’ ” VanDerwerker recalled.
    The association was able to provide 26 gift packages to soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. Included in the packages were everything from rope chews for the dogs to necessities for their handlers; in each package went a picture of the Carman fi refi ghters.
    Aiello said all of the packages reached the troops in time for the holidays. VanDerwerker soon started receiving a steady procession of e-mails and photos from the thankful troops.
    “Those handlers over there were amazed,” said VanDerwerker, who prints and proudly displays the e-mails on the fi re department’s bulletin board. “They were so happy for support, especially during Christmas time.”
    Dogs have played a dangerous role in protecting U.S. troops in the war zones, tasked with fi nding concealed bombs and alerting units of snipers.
    “They’re the first to lead a patrol,” said Aiello, who served as a K-9 handler during the Vietnam War. “They try to detect any danger that’s in front of them before [the unit] gets to it.”
    But sometimes the dog component of the teams are forgotten by troop support groups. Aiello said his organization, which was founded in 1999, quickly decided to fill this gap when the U.S. began military operations in Afghanistan in 2001, and then................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00904