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Military service dogs make a unique and valuable contribution to the units to which they’re assigned. Now, Yahoo News reports, they’re getting their own national monument in honor of their service.
The United States Working Dog Teams National Monument is meant to commemorate and honor every military dog that’s served since World War II (so pups like Sergeant Stubby get nothing? Military dogs might not have been very common until World War II, but canines have had a place in our combat since the Seminole Wars). It won’t stand on the National Mall in DC, or in the capital at all, but instead will be located at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX, where many military service dogs are trained.
The push to get a military working dog monument (I keep wanting to clarify military, because there are many more working dogs that aren’t military; the exact name of the monument doesn’t specify but it is meant for military dogs) was spearheaded by John Burnam. He’s a Vietnam War veteran and author of two books about military dogs (while in Vietnam he served with the Army’s 44th Scout Dog Platoon).
Burnam met up with two other dog handler veterans and started a foundation to lobby for the monument. They received the backing of Rep. Walter B. Jones from North Carolina in 2004. In 2007 legislation was introduced allowing for the monument, and it was signed by President George W. Bush, and then signed again by President Barack Obama.
Approval wasn’t all the monument needed, however. It needed funding. Burnam and his partners received that in the form of corporate sponsorship. Natural Balance Pet Foods signed on board, creating a special jerky bark treat available from Petco, the funds from which were used to support the monument.
Now the monument is complete, and it will be making its debut next year. It depicts a military dog handler with two dogs on each side: a German Shepherd, Labrador Retriever, Doberman, and Belgian Malinois: all breeds currently in common use in the U.S. military.
The bronze sculpture was created in California by artist Paula Slater. A floral recreation of it will debut at the Tournament of the Roses Parade in Pasadena on January 1, on the Natural Balance float. The real monument will then go on tour as it makes its way to its permanent home in San Antonio.
This monument is really cool. Recently I visited the monuments in DC for the first time since childhood (so I saw some that hadn’t been there at my last visit). I remember thinking to myself how cool it would be if there was at least a plaque or something acknowledging military service dogs. There might not be any such thing added to the monuments in DC, but I love knowing that all these brave dogs do have their own monument now.
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*(The above image by Petty Officer 2nd Class John F. Looney is from Beverly & Pack’s Flickr and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)