The newest proposal for a monument in the District is for the dogs — and the military men and women who work with them.
U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., has introduced legislation authorizing the National War Dogs Monument
to build a memorial in Washington
to honor the service of military dog
teams. No site has been determined.
“I think it’s natural that many times people don’t think about dogs and war unless they have been in war themselves,” Jones, who has been planning the bill for more than a year, told The Examiner. “I think the history of war dogs helping soldiers from this country and others is quite a story. And it’s a story of valor. … These dogs were heroes.”
The cost of constructing and maintaining the monument, roughly $5 million, would be solely the responsibility of the nonprofit group. The memorial design concept would feature bronze casts of a soldier, a German shepherd, a Labrador retriever and a Doberman pinscher.
John Burnam, founder and chairman of the National War Dogs Monument, writes on wardogsmemorial.org that tens of thousands of canines have served the U.S. military during the two world wars and in Korean, Vietnam, the Gulf and the Middle East. The dogs are explosives detectors, trackers, scouts, sentries, tunnelers and rescuers.
Most of the 4,000 dogs that served in Vietnam did not survive the war.
“Every veteran war dog handler in the country, in the world, would love
to see a national monument passed by Congress,” said Burnam, who served
two tours in Vietnam, including time as a German shepherd scout dog handler in the infantry. “That to us is the ultimate ‘thank you’ to the animals who’ve been with us in the field.”
