Nubs - Brian Dennis [0]
Copyright
Begin Reading
To the Marines of BTT 3/5/2—B.D.
To my Beloved, who discovered Nubs’s story—M.N.
For Mary, “a true friend and a good writer”—K.L.
copyright
Text copyright © 2009 by Major Brian Dennis, Mary Nethery, and Kirby Larson • Front cover photograph and photographs on pages 42 and 45 © 2007 by Karen Maze/ www.karenmaze.com • Photographs on page 36 (left-hand side) © 2007 by Denis Poroy • Photographs on page 36 (right-hand side) © 2007 Patty Ducey-Brooks/Presidio Communications • Photographs on pages 38, 39, 43 © 2007 Scott Linnett/The San Diego Union-Tribune/ZUMA Press • Photograph on page 40 © 2007 The Tampa Tribune. Reprinted with permission.
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. • Little, Brown Books for Young Readers • Hachette Book Group • 237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017 • Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com • www.twitter.com/littlebrown • Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. • The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
Special thanks to the following people, who contributed photographs for inclusion in the book: Alicia Cellana, Chrissy Sjoberg, Eric Sjoberg and the Marines in Unit 3/5/2: Capt Alexander Roloff; Capt Ronald A. Hess; 1st Lt Jaime Hinojosa; 1st Lt James Schmidt; MGySgt Donald Hatch; GySgt Wayne Jackson; GySgt Sean Walters; GySgt Patrick Keith; SSgt Joseph Palomo; HM1 Florencio Masadao. Additional thanks to Ms. Kettler’s second grade class at Murray Manor Elementary School.
First eBook Edition: November 2009
ISBN: 978-0-316-07630-2
Outside a border fort in the desert of western Iraq, a small, thin dog watched and waited. His ears had been cut off to make him a dog of war. He had no name, and no person to call his own.
Despite his size, he was the leader of his pack, a group of wild dogs that survived by eating desert mice and rats and scraps from the Iraqi soldiers stationed at the fort.
As the dog scanned the desert for a possible meal, the stillness of the fall morning was broken by the roar of engines, rumbling closer and closer. He hunkered down in the sand.
Three military Humvees, carrying Major Brian Dennis and his ten Marines, lumbered to a stop. They were part of Border Transition Team 3/5/2, there to help train the Iraqi soldiers.
The other pack dogs raced to greet the men.
But the dog without ears cautiously approached Brian, who knelt down on one knee to meet him.
FROM: BRIAN DENNIS I found a dog in the desert. I call him Nubs because his ears look like little “nubs.” We clicked right away. He flips on his back and makes me rub his stomach. I taught him to sit and shake in about 5 minutes.
SUBJECT: DESERT DOG
DATE: OCTOBER 2007
“I call him Nubs because his ears look like little ‘nubs.’”
That night, Nubs and Brian ate dinner together. They shared Brian’s MREs—or Meals Ready-to-Eat—of spaghetti and Cajun beans and rice. For dessert, Nubs sampled a strawberry Pop-Tart, wagging his tail.
Later that evening, Nubs stayed with Brian when it was his turn at guard duty. Together they kept everyone safe.
The next day, Brian gave Nubs an extra long belly rub. Then he stepped into his Humvee and drove away.
The whole pack chased after the vehicles but quickly lost interest and turned back. Not Nubs. Running faster and faster, he tried to catch up with Brian. He ran for more than a mile. He had no way of knowing that it was against the rules for Marines to have pets.
Left behind, Nubs stared after the Humvees as they disappeared into the shimmering heat of the desert.
Long, lonely weeks passed without any sight of that trio of Humvees the Marines called Scout, Boss, and Chuck.
At the fort, without Brian, there were no belly rubs. Winter’s cold winds began to scour the desert, leaving