A good luck Rhino

October 25, 2004

Beudreaux almost won his ticket home.

He was packed, literally.

His furry, polyester-stuffed body was wedged into an Army green duffel bag headed to Arkansas. His days of patrolling the streets of Baghdad had come to an end. Sgt. Tommy Johnson brought Beudreaux the stuffed Rhino to Iraq when Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade arrived in April.

He bought Beudreaux at the Memphis Zoo. His little boy liked the furry gray animal.

So Johnson brought it to Iraq as a souvenir from home.

Johnson put the Rhino on the dashboard behind the windshield of the humvee he drove for Capt. John Stubbs, commander of 3rd Battalion’s Charlie Company, and it’s been there ever since.

Well, until Johnson packed to go home.

Johnson is one of about 240 soldiers in the battalion who served in Egypt two years ago. That earlier deployment pushed the soldiers to the 24-month limit on deployments the Pentagon sets for guardsmen and reservists.

So they are heading home to Arkansas — ahead of the rest of the 39th Infantry Brigade.

As we headed out on a raid in the wee hours of the morning, Stubbs noticed Beudreaux was missing from his usual perch.

“Where is he?” Stubbs asked.

“In my duffel bag,” Johnson answered. “I packed him.”

“You have to leave him here,” Stubbs said. “He’s our good luck charm. He’s been with us since [Fort] Hood. I’ll bring him home safe with me.”

Johnson agreed.

And nine hours later, as the duo headed north to Camp Taji from Fort Apache, Beudreaux was back on the dashboard, his furry horn pointing toward the hood.

“He’s back where he belongs,” Stubbs said.

Posted by Amy at October 25, 2004 03:31 PM