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Finding Jack
by Gareth Crocker
2011, 290 pages
Fiction
Following the tragic loss of his wife and daughter, Fletcher Carson enlists for Vietnam as little more than a suicide wish. Surrounded by unthinkable suffering and despair, Fletcher and his platoon endure the engulfing misery, until they find a wounded yellow lab and nurse him back to health. The dog was being used by the U.S. as a scout in Vietnam. Fletcher finds him to be well-trained and names him Jack. Fletcher and Jack become partners and friends, forging an unbreakable bond that will bring Fletcher back from the edge. But at the end of the war, Fletcher is commanded to leave Jack behind. How do you leave your best friend to die?
More than 4,000 dogs were employed as scouts by the U.S. military in the Vietnam War. Fewer than than 200 came home. Deemed as “surplus equipment” by the Pentagon at the closing of the war, the dogs were left to be euthanized, turned over to the South Vietnamese, or simply abandoned. Finding Jack is the story of the resilient bond between man and dog, and a journey of courage and love.
