As opposed to a dog who welcomes home his soldier, as with Nubs the dog, which we wrote about earlier, Australian Special Forces units are welcoming back Sabi. Sabi was lost during a gun battle in Afghanistan 14 months ago.
Sabi was a member of an Australian SAS unit. Fourteen months ago, Sabi vanished after a gun battle so furious that nine Australian soldiers, Sabi’s handler, were wounded in the battle.
The battle also earned one of the Australian SAS troopers the highest bravery award available to an Australian soldier. Mark Donaldson won a Victoria Cross (shown) when he repeatedly drew enemy fire to allow his wounded comrades to be evacuated. More than that, he then ran 80 yards across open ground to rescue a wounded Afghan interpreter. It was the first time an Australian soldier had won a Victoria Cross since the Vietnam War, 40 years ago.
However, after the battle, there was no sign of Sabi, who had been trained to detect explosives. The troops searched repeatedly around the site, but assumed that the dog was dead.
Last week, however, an American soldier, identified in reports only as John, saw the the dog close to an isolated outpost in the remote mountains of Uruzgan province. John had heard the story of Sabi, so he called her towards him. “I took the dog and gave it some commands, and it understood,” he said.
Airlifted back to her unit, her trainer tested her. He verified her identity by using a familiar game. “I nudged a tennis ball to her with my foot and she took it straight away. It’s a game we used to play over and over during her training. It’s amazing, just incredible, to have her back.”
The dog seems in good health, despite having to live in the wild for 14 months. Welcome home, Sabi. For once, soldiers welcome home a dog, rather than a dog who welcomes home his soldier.
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