On this day many years ago I set Chico free, although Bruce J. was there at the time. (Chico was a baboon. Our army unit’s mascot.  He was captured on the South African border with Zimbabwe and brought back to our base camp.)

Chico was tied to a tree with a long chain which allowed him to climb the trunk and sleep in the branches. Chico was a wonderful animal. I really liked him because he was affectionate and had a sense of humor similar to mine. Well, maybe not his sense of humor per say, more like his laugh. (I was often told I laughed like a baboon by the school bully.)

A number of us were opposed to Chico’s capture and tried hard to make him happy. We often hung out with him and enjoyed his hugs. He always tried to groom us and he loved to look through our pockets for change, which he’d grab and run off with.

We gave Chico a teddy bear to keep him company while we were away (sometimes for days) on maneuvers. Chico loved that bear and could often be seen nurturing and caressing it.

My decision to free Chico came after I brought him some left over fruit from my dinner in the mess hall one day. As I approached his tree I saw a group of new recruits taunting him. They were trying to get Chico to smoke a cigarette. Because I out-ranked the men, I told them to move along and not to let me catch them messing with the baboon again.

I stood guard later that night and my shift ended at 2am. My friend Bruce and I walked past Chico’s tree on our way back to our tent. It was pretty dark and we couldn’t see Chico very clearly. I walked a little closer and suddenly realized that he was not alone. Chico and another baboon were huddled together at the base of the tree. It was so touching and heartbreaking to see the two of them holding each other like scared little children.

When the other baboon saw us it scampered off into the bush and I saw Chico look longingly after it. He then turned and looked at us. The sadness in his eyes and the slight tilt of his head was all it took. My heart broke. I decided there and then to release him. (It was a tough decision though because the consequence of letting him loose were dire. Staff-Sergeant Reyeneke (who considered Chico HIS pet) promised he would make the life of anyone who released Chico a living hell for the remainder of his two year service. Reyeneke was a tyrant and nobody wanted to be on his bad side.)

Bruce acted as a lookout while I approached Chico. The baboon backed away from me, probably thinking I was going to taunt him like the new recruits had done earlier that day. I stepped back and approached him again, this time crouching and softly whispering to him. (I must admit I was afraid of being bitten because baboons can be rather nasty when provoked.)

I got to Chico and reached out my hand. He took my hand and climbed onto my hip (Like he often did when we brought him fruit.) He clung to me like a child.

I unhooked the chain from around his neck and walked away from the tree with him. Chico hung onto me for dear life. He whimpered a little as I moved toward the edge of the clearing. It seemed like he did not want to go.

I put him down and without hesitation he scampered away from me toward the bush. Then he stopped, turned and ran back over to the tree where he was previously chained.

“No. Chico,” I whispered. “Go. Get out of here.”

“Shoo.” Whispered Bruce loudly. “Go on, get.”

Chico got to the tree and jumped up into the fork. He dug around for a few seconds and then dropped down to the ground and scuttled toward the undergrowth.

“Get out of here,” I urged.

As he neared the bush, he stopped and turned toward us. That’s when I noticed Chico was carrying his teddy bear. I smiled to myself now realizing why he had gone back to the tree.

Way off in the distance I heard an echo of the other baboon howling in the bush. Chico heard it too.

He tucked the teddy bear under his arm, gave us one last chatter of ‘monkey words’ and disappeared into the undergrowth.