“Seven years ago there was a piece on the Discovery channel about war dogs, and they became a national sensation,” explains Gross. “It’s the goal of the Vietnam Dog Handlers Association to build a memorial in each state.”
During the Vietnam War, dog teams consisting of scout, combat tracker, sentry, and mine and tunnel dogs saved thousands of lives. The dogs would rely on their keen sense of sight, sound, and smell to locate injured soldiers, search out Vietcong weapons caches, locate deadly booby traps, and thwart enemy attacks and ambushes. The handlers responsible for the dogs cared for these brave animals, and literally carried food and water into battle for them. The war dog teams were so effective and efficient that the Vietcong High Command issued a bounty on them. Hundreds of dogs gave their lives in combat.
Despite the pleas of their handlers, the war dogs that survived the conflict were classified as “expendable equipment” at the end of the Vietnam War and were abandoned to unknown fates in South Vietnam.
The Pennsylvania War Dog Memorial is dedicated in honor of all the brave war dogs from every military conflict. Thirty-two former dog handlers attended the dedication, along with seven current military working dogs and handlers – three from the Navy, two from the Air Force, and two from the Marines.
All the handlers helped to unveil the memorial, which is a sculpture of a soldier and his dog on patrol, created by local artist Joe Pavone. Behind the sculpture are three plaques that list the U.S. military conflicts in which war dogs served, branches of service, and types of military working dogs. During the dedication ceremony, each dog’s name was read first, followed by the name of its handler.
Rose Karwoski, construction office manager at Ann’s Choice, attended the dedication. “The first thing that struck me, when I knew that it was going to be a special event, was the fly-by,” she says, “when the planes flew overhead in honor of what was going to happen. It was very touching. A lot of vets were there with their families and you could see the pride they all had.” (Kate Newton Schmelyun)
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