Iris' Den
War Dogs
Graphic providied by Babycass's Den
It was a rainy morning on Sunday, May 27, 2001 in Streamwood, Illinois. The memorial ceremony started out with a really neat air show. Then the typical honors for the war veterans. Then came the fun part, the war dog memorial part.
It was sad and interesting hearing all the stories about the war dogs. The handlers expressing their love and saying how they and thousands of other men wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the dogs. It's true. In Vietnam about 4,500 dogs served and more than 10,000 men were saved by these dogs. Sadly only about 200 dogs came back to the states only to serve in the military.
There were some 40 police dogs there with their handlers. Most were GSD's but some were Belgian Malinois. I knew that if anything were to happen there, we would defiantly be safe with ALL those police dogs!
Finally the uncovering of the memorial! This is what I was dieing to see it! The sculptor you could tell was just as sad as anyone else there, thinking about all those dogs that died in Vietnam. Dieing for their country, dieing for their master.
I do 4-H and you can do a poster on any topic on dogs. In 2000 I did a poster on War Dogs for the county fair. The judge thought I did a good job and was fascinated at what the war dogs did. I hope the other people who saw my poster were just as awed as she was.
These dogs have done amazing things. This is the 5th memorial to war dogs. To see pictures of the other ones go to this War Dog Memorial Page. These dogs NEED to be honored and recognized for what they've done. Hopefully these memorials will help.
Here are some pictures of the memorial in Streamwood.
(Left to Right)The sculptor, Anthony Quickle and my friend Hannah with her GSD, Chief.
(Left to Right)Becky and Iris, Hannah and Chief, Sara and Carl.
To find out more about war dogs, go to my Links Page and find the war dogs links.
