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A sergeant at K-13 (Suwon) had a pet dog that gave birth to a litter of
puppies. He was about to leave and needed to find homes for the puppies. I
took the runt of the litter home to the Victor Flight Quonset hut. I
didn't know exactly what to do, but several base nurses close by helped me
to start weaning the pup. Using some supplies the nurses gave me, we fed
him powdered milk from a punctured condom. He squealed and barked at
night, but we all put up with it.
I was close to being FIGMO (Forget it, I've Got
My Orders) at the time, so we decided to name the puppy, Figmo. He was off
to a good start. I rotated back to the states in March 1953. The Victor
Flight troops must have taken good care of him, because Figmo won a loving
cup in a dog show competition. This event and Figmo’s picture with the
trainer was written up in the Stars and Stripes. When Vic Hodges
was repatriated at Freedom Village in early September 1953, Lt. Col. Ruby
and Figmo were there to greet him. After the war, when the squadron moved
to Itazuke, Figmo went with them.
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