Kris & Dakota
Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster - Feb 2003

 

On Saturday February 1, 2003, the world watched with horror, sadness and tears as seven astronauts perished...only sixteen minutes from home. This tragic loss elicited grief that orbited the earth.

As the world mourned, a massive recovery effort was underway to recover debris from the Space Shuttle Columbia scattered across eastern Texas and western Louisiana. In addition to the shuttle debris, a recovery effort was launched to recover the remains of the astronauts of the Space Shuttle Columbia.

My search dog, Dakota, and I were chosen and deployed by FEMA and NASA on February 3, 2003, to Texas as part of the elite Task Force sent to search for astronauts Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawa, Laurel Clark, Rick Husband, William McCool, and Ilan Ramon.

We were there for 10 days and the pressure to perform flawlessly was incredible. We had a duty to bring our astronauts home; to provide closure for their families...and to our nation.

Dakota, my "pit bull", was hand picked by both FEMA and NASA for this mission because of her proven search skills, professionalism in chaotic situations, her never quit attitude and also her humor and charm. The day we arrived in San Augustine, Texas, it was pouring rain with high winds and temperatures in the 30's. The search dog teams arrived in two vans and as we gathered our gear and our dogs to unload, we could hear the crowd, the other searchers, the State Troopers, the FBI, the NASA officials, etc. standing outside in the rain saying, "Those are those special dogs that are going to find our astronauts."

Then I unloaded Dakota from the van. I heard several gasps and a lot of "take a look at that, it's a 'pit bull'!" A large crowd gathered to see the "pit bull" search dog. As Dakota and I walked to the K9 staging tent, the crowd split in half to let us by. "That can't be a 'pit bull', she just got out of a van with 5 other dogs in it!" "That can't be a 'pit bull' because she's too friendly!" That can be a 'pit bull' because they are only used for fighting!" I heard them all.

On the fifth day that we were there, Dakota and I had been in the field searching for several hours on an assignment in the cold, rain, sleet and wind. When we returned to the K9 search team staging tent, we were cold, wet and we were both shivering. As we began to huddle together around the propane heater I heard someone walk into the tent. It was a NASA astronaut who also had been out searching all morning. He walked in and went around everyone to get to an empty chair way in the back corner of the tent. He sat down, bent over and buried his head in his hands. A few moments later I could see tears dripping from his hands. Dakota saw this too. She immediately got up from her warm cozy place in front of the heater and slowly walked over to him. She gently slid her golden brown head under his arms and gave him a big kiss on the lips. He put his arms around her and just hung on and cried.

Dakota and her big wet kisses became very popular with everyone in San Augustine. Every morning people would stop at the K9 staging tent to say hi to Dakota and get their daily kiss. Those that searched with us would come back and tell everyone how Dakota worked tirelessly in the field. By the end of the first week, people were making requests to search with the "pit bull" search dog!

Dakota not only showed everyone there that she was as good, if not better than all the other dogs there, she showed the world that, with hearts as strong as their muscular bodies, "pit bulls" can be productive members of society.

A memorial was dedicated to the astronauts of the Space Shuttle Columbia at Arlington National Cemetery. It also provides a final resting place for these heroes. " They were pilots, engineers and scientists, all motivated by a fire within, a passionate eternal flame within each of their souls that compelled them to live lives of distinction and to bring the heavens ever closer to our grasp," NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe said at the dedication. "They delighted in working together to advance scientific research that will help all of our lives. They proved that heroes come in all shapes and all sizes."

Please join me in honoring Dakota and also in remembering these seven people, their accomplishments and their courage by sharing my tribute with others.

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"Kris - As poignant as the images in your tribute are, the one thing that may bring a small modicum of closure is the pure joy those images depicted. Few of us have been fortunate to experience that kind of expectation and excitement and adventure in our lifetime of jobs. So many of us live life day to day until we die of old age with none of that. I remember Columbia, and I remember the feeling as I watched the aftermath. Today when I view your wonderful tribute I still see the joy of those people at the prospect of their mission. Somehow, we failed them which is a shame. However, I hope when my time comes I can die doing something I feel passionate about. So few of us are that lucky." -- Karyn Dawes

 

At the airport after our police escort through town

Dakota and I were part of the "Blackhawk Buzzard Brigade"

 

Some of the Texas State Troopers who were fascinated about working with a pit bull

 

Dakota hung out at the assignment desk and kept everyone entertained

 

At the airport, waiting to go home two weeks later

We were the "special guests" recognized at the anniverary memorial ceremony

 

NASA Astronaut Joe Tanner

 

I was asked to speak at the NASA Anniverary Memorial and show my multi-media tribute

Click HERE to go to the Space Shuttle Columbia Anniversary Memorial - February 2004