Possibly Coming To An Editorial Page Near You

The below explains itself mostly. I hope this is the only place that this is ever posted, I hope we can clear this up. I want a dog. And I thought this was relatively well written. I just hope that I can get to print it out and let Trueman chew it to pieces:

For my wife and I, both new LTs and Platoon leaders in Grafenwoehr, Germany is our beginning. While we have been together for more than 5 years, and have been officers for coming up on a year, this is our first permanent duty station. Like any young couple, we are eager to start a family, but perhaps not in the normal way. While children are definitely in our future, the family we are talking about needs just one addition. That addition should have 4 (or 3) legs, a tail (or stub), lots of energy, big ears (or small) and a nice wet nose. Yes, we came here looking for a challenge, for the beginning of our careers, and a dog. In all honesty, I expected the first two items to be the challenge, not the last. Not just any dog will do, we want one that loves us, and that we can love. I thought we had found that with Trueman. A mutt in the truest sense, Trueman stole our heart from miles away. Over the internet my wife and I searched from both sides of the Atlantic, and stumbled upon the dog of our dreams. Using my D- earning to its fullest, I waded my way through emails until finally being put in contact with Trueman’s foster mom. Which is where it got difficult.

I have experienced prejudice against soldiers before, I am from a famously liberal part of the country where ignorant people stain my fine political leanings by using it to mock and abuse the holders of duties and responsibilities they don’t comprehend. But I never expected to encounter it in a dog foster parent. Nowhere in my mental list of challenges on the road to doggie adoption was this even a consideration. Yes, it would cost extra to get my rental car cleaned of dog hair, yes, I would have to hurry up the unpacking to spare our belongings from becoming chew toys, and horror of horrors I would have to pick up dog poop. I just didn’t think that being a Soldier made me incapable of taking care of a dog. I thought a dog that had been in care for longer than I have held a commission would be easy to adopt into a loving home. I never thought that among the wonderful people who deciphered my mangled German in emails, the one who spoke English would hold me in such contempt. Yes I am bitter, yes I am sad, and yes, I wish Trueman were here. Don’t let this stop you from the search for your own addition to the family. Let it be a warning, that there are some who don’t respect what we do, and who let that get in the way of rescuing those fine creatures that cannot help themselves.