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Vietnam vet remembers fallen four-legged friend

By Margo Gray – bio | email

HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) - Veteran's Day, Armistice Day, Remembrance Day - whatever you call it, is a time to reflect on the service of many brave heroes.

It's very seldom, though, you of hear the heroes with four legs instead of two.

We've all heard war stories from WWII and Vietnam, but nothing where in the heat of battle, a man was saved by man's best friend.

As Meridianville resident, Wade Franks looks upon an old war picture he said, "this is probably about a month and a half before he died."

It's the last picture Vietnam veteran Franks said he took before losing his war buddy, Little Joe.

At first glance, Little Joe hardly looks like a typical solider, but the K-9 is regarded as a hero.

During the war, Little Joe and his handler Franks of the 47th Infantry Scout Dog Platoon were out on patrol when they came under enemy fire. Little Joe alerted the unit before being shot five times, in turn, saving Franks and a dozen other soldiers.

The story of Little Joe and many more, Franks kept bottled up inside after returning home without Joe and fellow comrades.

"I just felt so guilty to be here when I had watched so many wonderful men die," he said.

But he turned his guilt into a new mission and dozens of new pictures show Vietnam in a new light. Franks has journeyed back to Vietnam 19 times as a missionary bringing supplies to orphanages and building churches.

"Every time I make a trip back to Vietnam it changes my life," he said. "It makes me appreciate what I have in America."

Franks said that seven scout dog handlers from Alabama never made it home from Vietnam.

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