Letter read at Dedication from PFC Currier Jr.'s Commanding Officer

Gentlemen,

Attached is a letter written by my brother’s commanding officer in Vietnam. He asked that it be read at the recent dedication ceremony. Colonel McCreedy, Installation Commander at Ft. Meade read it as part of the program.

Joe Currier



June 23, 2006

SFC Chad Benansky
Kennel Master
241st Military Police Detachment Military Working Dog Section
Directorate of Emergency Services
Building 6619, Mapes Road
Fort George G. Meade, MD 20755

Dear Sergeant First Class Benansky:

It is fitting that your working dog kennel is to be named for PFC Gordon L. Currier, Jr., and his dog Satch. PFC Currier, a member of the 212th Military Police Company (Sentry Dog), represented the very finest of military policemen in the 18th Military Police Brigade.

As his company commander, I was truly amazed at his daily courage and bravery in face of the unknown. He represented a small, chosen group of soldiers who had the special qualities of intelligence, calm decision-making, individualism, and reliability. Night after night, he and his fellow warriors of the first platoon would stand guard mount, place their dogs on cargo vehicles and move to their duty locations on the perimeter of the 13 mile oval road around the ordnance battalion’s Long Binh ammunition storage depot. There, they would walk their posts alone in the dark of the night. Armed only with their M-16s, a 45 caliber pistol, a helmet radio that seldom worked, and their best friends, their dogs, they searched for the enemy. Their mission, as individual teams, was to deter, detect and report the location of enemy sappers trying to penetrate, map and destroy the armaments that allowed our infantry, armor and artillerymen to continually defeat the VC and North Vietnamese in battle. On a one on one stealth encounter, they never lost!

On the night of January 31, 1968, PFC Gordon Currier was, unknowingly, at the apex of the VC attack. The enemy had found a gully to move their force to within assault distance of the perimeter. Their objective was to attack and enter at the point of a corner of the depot. Fortune was with the VC as the wind was flowing toward them. They attacked first with mortars to destroy the perimeter wire and then by assault through the opening. While under the mortar barrage at his position, Gordon Currier moved to a prepared fighting position and fought back until overwhelmed by an estimated 20-30 enemy soldiers. By then, fighting was general throughout the area and the TET Offensive had begun.

PFC Currier was one of those quiet professionals in our Company. He did his duty superbly. He was always dependable. He loved his dog, Satch and together they were a wonderful team. He was a special soldier. He was a hero to each of us.

My very best to Gordon Currier’s family and to those who are the very best of the Army’s finest soldiers, the Military Police Working Dog Handlers.

Sincerely,

James T. Roberts, Jr.
United States Marshal for the
Southern District of Georgia

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