BY DANI TIETZ
dani@mahometnews.com
Veterans aren’t only human.
Lincoln Trail Elementary students learned that veterans can also be dogs on Monday.
Corporal David Cluver introduced the third to fifth-grade students to Sergeant Jady, his partner who served during Cluver’s second tour in Afghanistan.
As part of the Marine Corp, Cluver first served in Afghanistan as units worked to disassemble the financial backbone of the Taliban, the growth and sale of heroin.
“Terrorism is funded by drug money,” Cluver said.
He told students that 90-percent of the world’s heroin supply comes from Afghanistan and 95-percent of that supply came from the target of their mission.
During his second tour, the rules of engagement had changed, and the US forces in Afghanistan had to be aware of IEDs buried a foot underground.
At the call as his Lieutenant, Culver decided to train to be a dog handler.
At first, he thought it would be fun to have a pet while deployed.
During training he realized he “was not taking a pet on deployment; the dog was very much a tool.”
Alongside their handlers, dogs are trained to find the ammonium nitrate in the IED buried in the ground.
Cluver said that the school is set up so that the dog and the handler fail. But not because the Marines don’t want students to pass, but rather because they want them to make mistakes so that they learn to become a good teammate.
Cluver said that his first teammate was killed in action in Afghanistan.
“I was trying to watch the dog too much and I forgot to be a Marine,” he said. “Then I stopped worrying about the dog and being a Marine.”
Now retired, Culver and Sergeant Jady, who outranks him travel to schools like Lincoln Trail to talk about their teamwork.
“We learn how to work together to accomplish a goal,” he said.
“When you go overseas, and you are over there together, you see how every element works together.”
