He Walks Away, My Sun Goes Down....

Sad.

Liam Tasker was the 358th British Soldier to be shot and killed in Afghanistan.

He was killed while he was doing his job, and sometimes, however horrific that seems, that is all too often the price of the King's Shilling. The repatriation of the bodies to the UK through the little town of Wootton Bassett is becoming a familiar sight, and at no time does it get any easier to watch.

Today, however, I shed a tear. However sad this death is; this soldier was a dog handler, and his dog; trained to sniff out munitions and arms, died of a seizure, in the few short hours after his master was shot, while being taken back to the barracks.

Coincidence? I don't think so. These dogs are trained to work so closely to their masters they become as one. There is almost no need for communication between them; they appear to work as a single unit.

I'm heartbroken to think that as that bullet took that young boy's life, the reason for living drained from that wee dog, who knew nothing other than to follow his master's lead.

Sometimes there is no reason.