I have a dog, Jake. He is an English Springer Spaniel. I love my dog…
Folks occasionally ask how he came by his name. I didn’t come up with the idea; I took it from another dog – another English Springer – named Jake.
Sue and I arrived at McGuire AFB in July 1971 for my first assignment as an aviator. I was assigned to the 18th Military Airlift Squadron (MAS), flying C-141As. As it turned out, we arrived within a couple weeks of John and Glenda.
John and Glenda were classmates of ours from UPT. John and I were also paired in C-141 training at Altus AFB, OK. Shortly after we arrived at McGuire, John and Glenda bought an English Springer Spaniel, Jake. We also had a dog at the time, Shawn – an Irish Setter.
Occasionally Sue and I would get together with John and Glenda to play cards, and drink beer. One night when we were playing euchre, and drinking beer, Jake pissed off John. To punish him, John sent Jake to sit in the corner. If you have never seen a dog sit in the corner, with slumped shoulders, it’s hilarious! I could hardly contain myself from laughing. It got to the point to where I couldn’t even look at that pathetic dog, sitting and staring at the corner!
It wasn’t long before John caught Jake ‘eyeballing’ the area. “Jake!” John shouted in his booming voice. And Jake turned his head back to face the corner. Just as I looked over, Jake turned his head sideways, threw up, then put his head back into the corner. I lost it, and damned near fell off my chair laughing so hard! By then, John felt Jake had served his time, and let him out of detention.
The next ‘incident’ that comes to mind was on New Year’s eve. John and Glenda held a party at their house. Just after midnight, John went outside to give Jake a kiss. Yep, we were drinking beer again. I will never forget the dejected look on John’s face when he came back in the house, with the most dejected look on his face – Jake had scratched him! Apparently, when John stuck his head in Jake’s dog house, he startled him – and got scratched. John was so distraught…
Jake had such a ‘personality,’ and I have never forgotten him. So, when I retired from the airlines, and could have a dog, I knew exactly what I was going to get, and what I was going to name him: Jake:
I love my dog…
Those were the days, my friend! Jake was a great and loved dog. A real member of our family. He helped bring up our boys…He was well traveled, too. ..Bilingual even from his years in Spain. We think of him often. We think of you and Sue often, too. Fun and challenging times at McGuire. Take care!
Give Jake a hug and a pat from us.
I didn`t even know that you had a dog. He looks like a cutie in the pics. I`ll bet that he`s spoiled rotten….or maybe that`s just projection on my part. Duke, our old Boxer, has always been spoiled–especially by my mom. But the real deal around here is Bear, our one year old Newfy. He`s my constant companion, and that`s not always by my choice. Mary Ann is over the top with him. He has more toys than most kids. I`ll send pictures. I`m sure you can hardly wait!! HA!
laughed so hard while reading the corner paragraph i couldn’t see the screen for the tears. what a visual.