In 1969, the U.S. military drafted John Meeks to serve in the Vietnam War — a bleak prospect for the 18-year-old, only made tolerable because of the partner the Army assigned to him: Artus, a 6-year-old German shepherd.
“He knew more about what the hell was going on than I did,” said Meeks, 73.
Meeks was Artus’ handler for eight months in Vietnam. Artus sniffed out bombs, alerting the squad before they detonated, and he warned of ambushes, allowing Meeks and others to avoid them or be prepared to defend themselves. In one instance, Artus blocked Meeks and 15 others walking behind them from moving forward because he’d found a trip wire that would have detonated a bomb, killing all of them.
