"Thank you again for wanting to paint my boy," said Army Sgt. John Nolan. His "boy" is Honza Bear, at that time a 5 1/2 year old Yellow Lab, and trained as a Specialized Search Dog (SSD). Honza Bear was once deemed "untrainable" but with time and determined teaching by Sgt. Nolan, who recognized a special quality in Honza when they first became acquainted, they became effective partners and formed what became an unbreakable bond with one another.
During his working career, Honza found 14 Improvised Explosive Devices, which resulted in 400 lbs. of explosives being safely destroyed before harming any troops. The most memorable instance, according to Nolan, was when Honza was searching for an IED he couldn't seem to pinpoint. So the lab sat down next to Nolan, wagging his tail on the snowy ground. As Honza's tail slowly cleared the ground beneath him, a doorbell trigger attached to a battery was revealed. As Sgt. Nolan said, "he has saved my life, more times than I can count during our last deployment."
Sgt. Nolan and Honza returned from their deployment to Afghanistan in December of 2012. Nolan began the procedure for adopting Honza right away but the petition was denied at first. After the second petition was approved, Nolan left to pick up his once and forever buddy on February 28, 2013, and the pair returned home to Nolan's wife and two small children.
Thank you to Kevin Hanrahan (khanrahan.com), writer, soldier, and dog advocate for introducing me to Sgt. John Nolan.
Additional information from timesleader.com.
During his working career, Honza found 14 Improvised Explosive Devices, which resulted in 400 lbs. of explosives being safely destroyed before harming any troops. The most memorable instance, according to Nolan, was when Honza was searching for an IED he couldn't seem to pinpoint. So the lab sat down next to Nolan, wagging his tail on the snowy ground. As Honza's tail slowly cleared the ground beneath him, a doorbell trigger attached to a battery was revealed. As Sgt. Nolan said, "he has saved my life, more times than I can count during our last deployment."
Sgt. Nolan and Honza returned from their deployment to Afghanistan in December of 2012. Nolan began the procedure for adopting Honza right away but the petition was denied at first. After the second petition was approved, Nolan left to pick up his once and forever buddy on February 28, 2013, and the pair returned home to Nolan's wife and two small children.
Thank you to Kevin Hanrahan (khanrahan.com), writer, soldier, and dog advocate for introducing me to Sgt. John Nolan.
Additional information from timesleader.com.
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