224th’s return reunited soldier, dog
Published: December 26, 2005
Simmons said he didn’t think Ringo, 11, who has arthritis in her back hips, would be alive when he returned home.
According to his wife, Lori Simmons, the day after Simmons left home from his leave in April, Ringo got very sick because Simmons was gone.
Simmons’s mother said Ringo had just laid down to die.
They thought they were going to lose Ringo, but veterinarian Dr. Phil Miller went to their house almost immediately to treat her with medicine, and Ringo survived.
Mr. Simmons, who has owned Ringo for most of her life, described her as an old friend, and when she then disappeared for three days while he was away, he said it was quite upsetting.
About one-third of the way through Simmons’s tour with the 224th, he received e-mail notification of Ringo’s disappearance.
Mrs. Simmons said, it was during a cold spell in October when Ringo disappeared.
“My heart sank,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do.”
It was hard having to tell her husband, she added. Mr. Simmons assumed Ringo wandered into a corn field, but no one knows where she went, and Simmons said Ringo had never disappeared before.
Family members, who searched the fields, had basically given up hope, when three days later, Simmons’s daughter saw from a window, Ringo walking down the road.
Considering Ringo’s condition, Mr. Simmons said, they didn’t think she would physically be able to make it back, but she did so in relatively good condition.
Upon her return she was dehydrated and hungry.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” Mrs. Simmons said. “I couldn’t wait to tell him the good news.”
“I know she’s just a dog,” Mr. Simmons said, “but it was quite an emotional experience for me.”
On top of everything else going on, Simmons said Ringo’s disappearance was a depressing time, but it made his day when he got the news of her return.
Then a week before Simmons was due to return home, Simmons’s mother said Ringo’s back legs went out, and the family had to carry her around.
Once again, Miller was able to treat Ringo and just barely get her on her feet before Simmons got home, his mother said.
She said it was a struggle to keep the dog alive while Simmons was away.
Simmons’s family tied a red, white and blue scarf around Ringo’s neck for their reunion, and Simmons’s mother had taught the dog to say “Tim.”
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