I received an e-mail from Neosho resident Mel Link Friday about a Neosho native and 1987 NHS graduate, Darwin Hukill, who is serving overseas in Afghanistan.

Darwin is the son of Lillian Hukill and the late Denzil Hukill, and currently resides in Cassville with his family when not serving overseas.

SFC Darwin Hukill is an Afghan Army Embedded Trainer, and is currently serving in Asadabad, Afghanistan.

I  have printed portions of his e-mail correspondence sent on April 2. I think it is a story worth sharing.

“I am now into my last 35 days in Afghanistan. Things are moving along pretty quick. We are getting ready to welcome our replacements in a couple of weeks. We’ll have about 7-10 days to get them up to speed before we head to the rear to get ready to depart country. If everything goes as expected, I should be home sometime around mid-May…

“Here at FOB (Forward Operating Base) Fiaz we have two dogs. They are two females named Turd and Left-Eye. Their names were given to them by the team we replaced. Turd earned her name by always getting into trouble of some sorts. Left-Eye was given her name because of the black mark under her left eye, and probably because the team we replaced were Marines, and they couldn’t think of a better one. But seriously, they were a great bunch of guys and really cared for these dogs. One of their team members is currently trying to raise the funds to adopt Left-Eye. These dogs were born on this FOB. Their mother was the FOB guard dog, and her name was D.O.G. (Dee-Oh-Gee). She was very protective of the U.S. soldiers and always went with them when they walked outside of the FOB. When any Afghans were around, she would get between them and the U.S. soldiers and growl at the Afghans unless she was called off by one of the U.S. soldiers. Now I know this sounds cute and humorous, but in Afghanistan dogs are not liked like they are in the States. Most Afghans are afraid of dogs. If they are a stray, they are tormented and sometimes killed just for fun. When a dog has a litter of pups, the owner will often kill all of the female pups because they can’t give them away. They won’t pay to have them spayed, and nobody wants a female dog that will make more dogs. It means having to feed them and try to give them away. Too much hassle I guess. A stray female dog is not welcomed by anyone. So when U.S. soldiers are kind to one of these strays, and feed them, the dog naturally feels grateful. On the flipside, the Afghans pelt them with rocks and sometimes kill them. This explains why, when U.S. soldiers take in a dog, they are naturally aggressive toward Afghans from that point on. This was the case with D.O.G.  She was an Afghan dog, but did not like Afghans! I had the opportunity to meet her when we did a recon to this area about a month before we moved here. She was big and had a very threatening presence, but she liked U.S. soldiers. The Afghans did not like her at all.

 “Two weeks before we moved to the FOB, she was shot and killed by some Afghan soldiers who “claimed” she bit one of them.  This happened while the U.S. soldiers here were out on a mission. She was found down by the river. The team that was here was hit pretty hard by the news. D.O.G. had four pups. Two male, and two female. The two males were easily given away, but Turd and Left-Eye were not wanted. After D.O.G. was killed, the Marine team was glad to still have the two pups around. When we arrived and got settled in, the title of Dog Whisperer was passed on to me. I guess the fact that my wife Kim works for a veterinarian and we have four dogs qualified me. That means I get to feed them and make sure they are in their kennel at night. If I’m out on a mission, then someone else always makes sure they are fed and taken care of. Of course, after two months of taking care of these dogs, I have become quite attached to them. I recently spoke with one of the guys from the last team, and learned that he is trying to adopt Left-Eye. He told me that he is working with an organization in Kabul called “Tigger House” run by Pam Constable. The process of adopting a dog from Afghanistan is a costly one. He told me that the cost is about $2,000 to $2,500. This includes quarantining the dog for 30 days (required for processing into U.S.) and air shipping it to New York. From there, the adopting family is responsible for picking it up at JFK Airport.

"I now have one last favor to ask.  Recently, while speaking with my wife Kim, we decided to take on the task of trying to adopt Turd. Now I am a practical man.  And I just couldn’t see spending that much money for a dog. Especially since we couldn’t afford it. And as I write this, I still can’t see it. And since we already have four dogs and two cats, I can’t justify wanting another one. But after becoming attached to this dog, I just can’t perceive leaving her to her fate in this country. So I have decided to ask my friends and family for a little help.”

This is a portion of an e-mail update sent by SFC Darwin Hukill on April 24:

“The dogs were picked up today by a driver that I paid to take them to Jalalabad. There, he was met by another driver, who I paid, who will take them on to Kabul to the Tigger House. Next Thursday they will be shipped to Islamabad, Pakistan, where they will stay for about three weeks until all the customs issues are taken care of. By then I should be home in time to make the trip to JFK Airport in NYC to get them. I will be picking up both dogs until the other soldier (Capt. Lomonaco) gets home in September. He will then drive to Missouri from Ohio to pickup Left-Eye. I contacted the Tigger House this evening and they said the dogs arrived safe and sound.”