A Soldier's best friend

Photo By Sgt. Jesse Smith | Sgt. 1st Class Duane Harrison, an aero medical platoon sergeant with the 3rd General Support Aviation Battalion, 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade, and his dog, Lucy, show their affection for each other Feb. 10 in the Super Hangar on Camp Humphreys, South Korea. The duo likes to visit Soldier's at work and give them a little bit of comfort.  

PYEONGTAEK, 41, SOUTH KOREA

02.17.2015

Story by Sgt. Jesse Smith 

2nd Combat Aviation Brigade

CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea – Who is a Soldier’s best friend? Some would say their battle buddies, roommates or maybe the other Soldiers in their squad. Sgt. 1st Class Duane Harrison would say his German Sheppard, Lucy, and said he believes that other Soldiers feel the same way about their dogs too.

Harrison, an aero medical platoon sergeant with the Company C, 3-2 GSAB, 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade, brought Lucy into work Feb. 10 to visit with Soldiers and civilians in the Super Hangar here.

Harrison is a volunteer with a Red Cross community program on Camp Humphreys that is just starting out and wants to use dogs to help comfort Soldiers minds while at work.

“It’s good for them to just take two minutes away from their desks to see the dogs,” Harrison said. “It makes them more comfortable in the workplace.”

Harrison came with a group of three other volunteers and their dogs that day. Ebony Bradley, the Red Cross station manager, was also there for a little while to see how everyone was doing. She explained how the program is a Red Cross volunteer program for both Soldiers and Civilians, and she is helping to get the program started.

Liz Joffrion, Pam Frandrich, and Sgt. Teka Brown, a flight medic with Company C, 3-2nd GSAB, were the other volunteers in the group.

Joffrion is a Red Cross volunteer and is also the primary trainer for an obedience course the dogs have to go through to become certified to be a part of the program. All of the dogs in the program are privately owned and go through the certification process.

All of the volunteers said they think that having the dogs around the Soldiers just makes the environment more inviting and friendly.

“It’s just nice to be able to bend down and pet a little furry friend,” Joffrion said.

Harrison said that he has experienced the power dogs can have on Soldiers when he brought Lucy in one day and a Soldier who hadn’t wanted to talk about his problems, immediately started talking when he saw Lucy.

“This is what we want to see,” Harrison said. “We want to see Soldiers react to the dogs and be more comfortable around them.”

Although the program is just starting out, Harrison said they have great plans for the future of the volunteer program and look forward to seeing any new volunteers.

A lot of the Soldiers said that seeing Lucy made them remember their own dogs back home. Harrison said he loves to bring Lucy around them and remind them about their furry friends they have waiting back home because he knows how much their dogs mean to them. He knows that a dog can be a Soldier’s best friend.

• Date Taken: 02.17.2015
• Date Posted: 02.16.2015 23:31
• Story ID: 154584
• Location: PYEONGTAEK, 41, KR