Military Mondays

There are countless stories out there about military men and their heroic actions. What about the service members who are not white men? We hear far fewer of their stories. That’s why, every Monday I will be discussing a book, movie, or work of art by or about a service member whose story is less likely to be heard.

For the first edition of this series, I would like to talk about:

• Sergeant Rex: The Unbreakable Bond Between a Marine and His Military Working Dog
• Megan Leavy (2017)

Sergeant Rex tells the story of a Marine Canine Handler and his dog on their first deployment. Mike Dowling, the author and subject of the book, became a handler by happy accident. He was one of the first handlers to be used on deployment in modern times, and Rex was his first Canine.

Image Source : Amazon

Mike is the son of an Irish immigrate and Hispanic mother, and he details his deployment with Rex, both of them surviving the Triangle of Death and the First Battle of Fallujah.

Upon arrival at their first stationing overseas, though, it became apparent to Mike that as the first marine handler/ canine duo, the pair really were test subjects.

In order to assist with future canine deployments and as part of the requirements of a canine handler, Mike documented each day of their deployment. This could have been tedious for him, but the information he captured was invaluable to the military and useful when it came time to write his book.

The IUSB Veteran’s Book Club read Sergeant Rex for its first meeting of the 2021-2022 school year. Mike was in attendance through zoom, and the book club members were able to ask him questions about Rex, his military experiences, and what it was like to write his book. He was an incredibly polite and eloquent speaker who was often full of emotion.

If books are not your thing, though Sergeant Rex is a quick read due to how captivating it is, the movie Megan Leavy (2017) also centers on Rex.

Image Source : loHud

Megan Leavy was a female marine who also deployed with Rex. The movie details her experiences gaining Rex’s trust, going on deployment, and being blown up.

However, like all Hollywood depictions of real events, there is a lot of inaccuracy in what is shown.

Image Source : History Vs. Hollywood

According to several accounts, the Megan Leavy rolls the story of other dogs and service members into one big story, which discredits the work, service, and lives of the people who actually experienced those things.

This was not Leavy’s doing, as she apparently had no hand in writing the script. However, some people chose to believe that she was to blame and even accused her of “stolen valor.” In Mike’s book, he tells his own story using his own words. The movie cared less about the person and more about creating a good story.

In my opinion, this was actually harmful to the climate towards female servicemembers. Once the rumors, assumptions, and accusations began about Leavy’s credibility (even though she was not the one who wrote the script), this doubt and borderline hostility was surely applied to other female servicemembers.

Speaking from my own experiences as a service member, women have to work incredibly hard to be seen as a good soldier. They must do everything perfectly the first time with no exceptions while males are often cut slack. This is of course a generalization but was an evident pattern throughout my career.

Nevertheless, both the book and movie are good stories that tell of lives (however accurately) of underrepresented service members. Have you read or seen either? I would love to hear your thoughts.