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Sergeant Rex: The Unbreakable Bond Between a Marine and His Military Working Dog
Sergeant Rex
by Mike Dowling
with Damien Lewis
Meet Rex, a very smart, well-trained German Shepherd. He has a highly sensitive sense of smell and can communicate what he finds to his handler who has trained him so well that that he can trust the dog to lead the way. The result saves a lot of lives, both Iraqi and American. Rex and his handler Mike, a young Marine, are among the first K9 teams to go to Iraq, and they have never been tested in actual battle conditions. They learn a lot which they can then share to help other teams in training. When a Marine team is not scheduled to go out, Mike and Rex rotate through guard duty at the gate. Rex can also bring down a “bad guy.” Neither of these activities meet their goals in Iraq, however, and Mike had to initially persuade commanders to allow them to go into the field on missions. After the soldiers saw what they could do, their bravery, courage, and skills, they begged to have them accompany them.
It’s extremely hot in Iraq and Rex, of course, is wearing a coat. When working he has to be watched carefully for dehydration. The pair go out with regular Marines on missions. Typically, marines clear a building of possible terrorists. Then Mike and Rex enter to search for armaments and materials that can be used to build IED’s. Rex can also do the very dangerous job of sweeping for mines. There are so many points in the process where explosions or enemy attacks could occur. Both Mike and Rex have bullet proof vests, but Mike reserves their use for the times they are most needed because they hold the heat in and increase the possibility of dehydration. Mike always puts Rex’s needs first—from choosing “housing” appropriate for Rex to covering Rex with his own body when they are suddenly under fire. They are truly a dynamic duo and have a special relationship.
Despite the fact that I don’t know much about the various kinds of weapons, I found Sergeant Rex to be both interesting and informative. I learned a lot about the use of dogs in the military and the training involved in preparing a handler/dog team to be successful in the field.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Memoir, Nonfiction
Notes: Contains lots of salty language coming from the mouths of tough marines living on the edge, constantly in danger, and frequently in the midst of explosions and gunfire. Given the circumstances, it wasn’t a problem for me. I just considered the context and moved on.
Publication: 2011—Atria
Memorable Lines:
One thing is crystal clear. K9 handlers and their dogs are at the top of the insurgents’ hit list, along with the EOD guys. We always presumed it would be the enemy’s priority to kill Rex and me, because we’re always at the front of patrols sniffing out the bombs. The more effective we get at finding their arms and explosives, the more they’ll want to hit us.
At times like these Rex becomes a therapy and a morale dog. Seeing Rex and talking about their dogs remind the guys of life back home. It reminds them that there is a world outside the madness of Fallujah and Mahmoudiyah, and in part we’re all here fighting for the right to survive this hell and get back to the world that we know so well and love.
The life-and-death existence that we’ve been living here has put it all into perspective and shown me what truly matters in this world.
The Paris Daughter–a story of art, women, and children in WWII
The Paris Daughter
by Kristin Harmel
World War II brings death, horror, and destruction to the civilians of Paris in this tension filled story of three women who have to make difficult decisions. They are never relieved of the agony of questioning their own judgements and actions: what would a good mother do?
Elise is the belittled wife of a famous painter whose actions put his family in danger. Juliette has the perfect charmed family life until the bombs begin to fall. Ruth Levy is a widowed mother whose Jewish religion and heritage endangers her children. As you read this novel, you will get to know these women and see how each reacts to hardships and trials. You can decide for yourself what it takes to be a good mother and whether any of these ladies are good mothers.
Alongside the main plot in The Paris Daughter, there is another that emerges; it interweaves and is essential to the first. It deals with artists at the time, how they interacted and how they were affected by the war. Elise was a wood sculptor and a painter. Art helped her through the emotional trauma of the war. Art also helped Juliette’s daughter deal with her mother’s increasing mental distress. Alongside these therapeutic benefits, we also witness the personal devastation that occurs when Elise returns home to discover her apartment has been looted of the valuable artwork she and her husband had created.
There are hints along the way as to what may have occurred personally during the war to these families. Eventually the characters and the reader learn the truth, and with the truth there is a way forward. Some of the characters are despicable, while others are noble and honorable. Some crumble morally under the stresses.
This book was a page turner for me, but was also a novel I found upsetting. The depiction of the characters is realistic so watching bad things happen to them was hard. As this book is set in World War II, not everyone is going to have a happily ever after. It is a book I recommend if you enjoy historical fiction, particularly about WWII.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Historical Fiction
Notes: In the author’s notes she responds to questions about why she is drawn to history as her subject matter: “My reasons are numerous, but perhaps the most important one is that if we don’t learn from history, we run the risk of repeating it. Too often in recent years, those of us who read frequently about World War II have seen shadows of that long-ago war in current events and it’s difficult seeing versions of past horrors happening again.”
Publication: June 6, 2023—Gallery Books
Memorable Lines:
Later, Olivier snored peacefully beside Elise while she wiped tears of despair away. He only seemed to see her these days when he wanted the closeness of her; at all other times, his indifference cut her to the core. She owed Olivier everything, and perhaps that was what made it so difficult when it felt to her, sometimes, that he was trying to erase her.
“This isn’t a decision I make lightly, but being a parent is not about dong what is right for ourselves, is it? It’s about sacrificing all we can, big and small, to give our children their best chance at life.”
“There must be something we can do.” “There is,” Madame Levy said. “You can pray for my children. And you can talk to yours about never turning their back on their fellow man. Maybe one day, we’ll all live in a batter world.”
Treacherous is the Night–once a spy, always a spy?
Treacherous is the Night
by Anna Lee Huber
Although the Great War is over, no one is over the Great War in Anna Lee Huber’s Treacherous is the Night. Every family has been affected by the huge number of fatalities and the return of badly wounded soldiers. Civilians carry the memories of deprivation and on the continent all live daily in the midst of destruction and rebuilding. For Verity Kent, the end of the war means reunion with a husband long thought dead and the end of her dangerous stint as a spy. Verity is dragged back into the aftermath of the war when she is an unwilling participant in a séance that is an obvious hoax.
Verity and her husband are trying to sort out their difficult relationship, but manage to put their struggle aside to solve the mystery, decipher codes, and discover who is lying. Huber does an excellent job of putting the reader in the timeframe right after the end of the war, and she reveals the horrors of war without being graphic. She portrays Verity as a woman restricted by the times she lives in, but capable and competent to achieve so much more than is expected from a woman in that period.
I enjoyed Treacherous is the Night and would like to read the first book in the series for more background and to experience Verity’s previous adventures.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Notes: #2 in the Verity Kent Series, but acceptable as a standalone.
Publication: September 25, 2018—Kensington Books
Memorable Lines:
We might be incapable as of late at discussing anything of importance, but as well-educated upperclass Brits, we could always rely upon our proficiency at inane small talk. After all, we’d been drilled in it since the cradle.
But in my estimation, he was naught but an officious pig, no offense to the swine.
“…the truth is war is hell on everyone who falls near its angry maw. The actions you take thinking to spare the innocent or inexperienced can just as easily cause their destruction, simply because the world is turned so bloody upside down.”
education pathways 