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<p>This is the story of a man and his best friend, a friend he credits with saving his life. Without this incredibly courageous friend, Shavertown resident John Nolan knew that, on any given day, he could have been blown up by explosives buried by Afghanistan terrorists.</p><p>No wonder he later adopted his pal.</p><p>Nolan&#8217;s best friend is Honza, a sleepy-eyed English Labrador one would never peg as a hero while watching him slumber lazily on Nolan&#8217;s couch.</p><p>Honza is a retired specialized search dog. Born in 2007 in Germany, he was purchased by the United States Department of Defense from a breeder. Nolan, a 2003 Meyers High School graduate, was his handler. Together, the two worked as a team in Afghanistan in search of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. They went on dangerous missions, and Nolan was keenly aware each one could have been his last. He believes that, without Honza, he wouldn&#8217;t be alive today. There were several close calls.</p><p>Nolan said Honza sniffed out 14 IEDs, weighing a total of 400 pounds during his tour of duty in Afghanistan from Dec. 2011 to Dec. 2012, likely saving many lives in the process.</p><p>The two also worked with the Green Berets, which Nolan explained is the Army equivalent of Navy Seals, elite, highly trained military units sent on the most dangerous missions. Who can ever forget the nail-biting stealth operation when a team of Navy Seals in the dead of night carefully surrounded a fortified compound in Pakistan before charging in and killing Osama bin Laden?</p><p>There were missions in which Nolan and Honza led a group of Green Berets through perilous roadways, relying on the dog to sniff out buried bombs.</p><p>&#8220;Honza was the first American paws on the ground. I was the first American boots on the ground,&#8221; said the 30-year-old United States Army veteran, who also served in Iraq.</p><p>Before each mission, Nolan would call his wife, Cara, and speak in code. Cara knew what was in store when he&#8217;d say, &#8220;I have to go to work. I love you.&#8221; He also called his parents, Jack and Sherry Nolan, of Wilkes-Barre. He learned only recently that after one such call, his father, an M&amp;T bank vice president, crumbled into tears in his office.</p><p>Nolan planned to be a music teacher when he enrolled in Mansfield University. Like many young high school graduates out on their own for the first time, he partied a little too much and dropped out. He went to Luzerne County Community College but decided college wasn&#8217;t for him.</p><p>He was delivering pizzas at the age of 21 and knew if he didn&#8217;t turn his life around, he&#8217;d be delivering them when he was 30. Around the time President George W. Bush announced a troop surge in Iraq, Nolan decided to join the Army. He made the decision on his own, then had to break the news to his parents. Needless to say, they were shocked and urged him to reconsider.</p><p>Undeterred, he went to Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, for basic training. His proud parents flew there for his graduation.</p><p>Honza and other specialized search dogs also went through rigorous training. Nolan and Honza trained together at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. &#8220;We had a strong bond,&#8221; Nolan said, adding these dogs have an unbelievably heightened sense of smell. Simply put, he said, when a human being walks into a pizza parlor, he or she smells the aromatic pies. If a dog walked into the same pizzeria, he&#8217;d be able to distinguish the cheeses, the seasonings and the sauces.</p><p>In war, these specially trained animals can sniff out a bomb or other explosive, warning their handlers and troops to stand back.</p><p>In one instance, Nolan and Honza were in a deep dry river bed called a wadi, which the Taliban use for roadways and to plant bombs. Nolan said Honza seemed frustrated sniffing through the deep snow there. &#8220;He was like a madman.&#8221; Honza sat still and Nolan froze as his dog began wagging his tail. Nolan gently drew the animal back. Honza had unearthed a door bell ringer device set to detonate a 10 to 15 lb. bomb &#8220;that would have blown the two of us to pieces.&#8221;</p><p>Nolan said these special dogs love their toys. After signaling a danger spot, the handler lures the dog back to safety with a toy, of all things. For Honza, all Nolan had to do was dangle a little yellow plastic ball on a blue string, his favorite play thing, and the dog would run back to him.</p><p>Honza was put up for adoption after some of the best vets in the country who treat these Army dogs determined he suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and would never be able to work with another handler. Nolan also noticed his once fearless Army teammate would now cower at loud noises and didn&#8217;t want to put on his gear. It was time for this four-legged hero, who served his country well, to call it quits. As far as Nolan was concerned, the only place Honza was going was back to Shavertown to live with him, Cara and their two children Riley, 3, and Hunter, who will celebrate his second birthday Saturday. The couple is expecting a third child in June.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s the reason I&#8217;m alive,&#8221; Nolan said of his beloved dog. &#8220;He&#8217;s everything to me. He&#8217;s my best friend.&#8221;</p><p>The feeling is undoubtedly mutual.</p><p>Before leaving Nolan&#8217;s home, I patted Honza on the head and told him it was an honor meeting him. No word of lie, he lifted his muscular paw as if to shake my hand.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Betty Roccograndi is a Wyoming Valley resident and an award-winning journalist. Her column appears every Sunday in the Times Leader.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Zeroing In: Army vet John Nolan and his faithful companion are back home in Shavertown