Horrie the Wog Dog

November 4, 2009 2:50 AM

Army Pack: Horrie the Wog Dog, 2/1Australian Machine Gun Battalion. An Australian soldier in WW2 befriended a puppy, and he went to great lengths to save him after the War. I saw it this morning on Letters of Note and thought it was great. Be sure to read to the end.
posted by web-goddess (9 comments total)

Well, except for that other dog that got killed. Kinda sucked for that one.
posted by web-goddess at 2:52 AM on November 4, 2009 [2 favorites]

Yeah, I was thinking that it was a great story...until that. If I think about my pups, who I adore, and an order to give one up to be shot, and the the opportunity to substitute another animal...I still don't think I could do it. I hope I never have to find out.
posted by maxwelton at 3:44 AM on November 4, 2009

I agree with maxwelton, it was a bit too 'Sophie's Choice' for me.
posted by essexjan at 4:03 AM on November 4, 2009

Here is his uniform.
posted by TedW at 4:27 AM on November 4, 2009

I EXPECTED HEART-WARMING, DAMN IT! IS THIS YOUR IDEA OF HEART-WARMING?

Well, war sucks all around, I guess. In one of her books, M.F.K. Fischer describes the World War II scenes of hungry refugee columns streaming past unattended cows crying in agony to be milked.

.
posted by Joe Beese at 7:20 AM on November 4, 2009

Gallip-collie.
posted by MuffinMan at 7:55 AM on November 4, 2009 [1 favorite]

The moral of the story: when it comes to choosing the death of a dog, the one with unknown history should take the place of the dog with known history. Unless, of course, you sing, "Always look on the bright side of life..."
posted by uraniumwilly at 8:20 AM on November 4, 2009

It's sad that the unknown dog had to die, but I don't know if I blame Moody. I think the true moral of the story is never offend a bureaucrat , because the earth itself knows not the depth of that inferiority complex.
posted by The Power Nap at 9:08 AM on November 4, 2009

FWIW, when I first read the post, I read that the soldier 'beheaded a puppy' and decided that Aussie soldiers are not to be fucked with. Turns out I wasn't too far off the mark.
posted by kaibutsu at 10:23 AM on November 4, 2009