DA NANG--They met at Fort Benning, Ga., on December 3, 1965. For Marine Lance Corporal Alfredo Salazar and a dog named "Kaiser" it was the beginning of a close friendship.
Salazar volunteered for duty as a dog handler in the newly formed First Scout Dog Platoon at Camp Lejeune, N.C. last year. He was then transferred to Fort Benning where he met the 85 pound German Shepherd that would be his constant companion for the next seven months.
"He came to me and licked my hand," Salazar said, "and from then on we were a team."
The two learned a lot about each other in the following months during their training with the Army's 26th Scout Dog Platoon. Then Salazar and Kaiser traveled to Camp Pendleton, Calf., for the final training before being sent to the Republic of Vietnam.
Once here the team went right to work. They participated in a dozen major operations and made more than 30 combat patrols.
Early this month Salazar and Kaiser joined "D" Company, First Marines, 3rd Marine Division for a search and destroy mission.
The Marine and his scout dog were leading a patrol through heavy brush toward a small village. Just as they broke through the undergrowth they were hit by heavy automatic fire and hand grenades.
Kaiser was hit almost immediately.
Salazar and the other Marines returned the fire and as the patrol moved in to attack the Viet Cong, Salazar knelt by his wounded companion.
"He tried to lick my hand," the Marine said, "but then he died."
Kaiser was carried back to the company area.
They buried the gallant scout dog under a shade tree near their tents. And, as a tribute to the first Marine scout dog killed in action in the Republic of Vietnam, they named their camp, "Camp Kaiser."
A dog is man's best friend, they say, and LCpl. Alfredo Salazar will echo that statement, for he lost "one of the closet friends he ever had."
