At the airport I saw a military dog and I wanted to make eye contact, but the dog did not stop looking at the boy in fatigues who held his leash and spoke to the woman behind the counter.

The dog wore a tan rubber muzzle. The dog was a german shepherd. He had the sloping hindquarters and the back legs that look bent and the gentle tail. I wondered what kind of work the dog did. Did the dog sniff for bombs? bodies? Did the dog know how to rescue?

The soldiers at the airport are so young. In their desert fatigues. I don't blame them for wanting to go, for believing in something. But I don't think they should be there. They need something different than what they get there.