NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY

Celebrate National Dog Day with military dog Fausto’s visit to the museum

In September 2012, I wrote a blog post about a contract working dog, Fausto, and his handler Jimmy Moore. We were introduced to Jimmy and Fausto through combat artist Richard Johnson, who had sketched these two on a trip to Afghanistan in 2011. When I wrote the blog, Jimmy and Fausto were still on active duty and had yet to do another tour in Afghanistan. Jimmy promised to bring Fausto to the museum after Fausto retired.

On June 5, 2015, Fausto, Jimmy, and Jimmy's family paid the staff of the Division of Armed Forces History a visit. I laid out the objects from Jimmy's donation so his family could see them, and Jimmy talked about most of them. Of particular interest were the doggles.

Doggles also became part of the uniform of the Military Working Dog. Dogs deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan have to endure hot, dry weather and copious amounts of sand and dust, so handlers began purchasing doggles for their partners to protect their eyes. Fausto's doggles were purchased by Jimmy's mom. He didn't really like them, but they prevented debris from getting into his eyes and causing infection.

We spent the rest of Jimmy and Fausto's visit touring our firearms vault and pausing for a pizza lunch where Fausto charmed the staff with his playful demeanor. These days, he's taking it easy in his retirement; he no longer finds improvised explosive devices for a living, but instead accompanies Jimmy on fishing trips and helps him catch fish. It's been hard to adjust to not being together 24/7, and he really did love his job. … He's not sure about this retirement thing, but who said it was going to be easy? He'll adjust, though, as long as he's with his BFF, Jimmy.

This post was originally published on the National Museum of American History's blog on August 17, 2015. Read the original version here.

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