This memorial at the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside pays tribute to the war dogs that served in the Vietnam War and their handlers. courtesy of www.wavenewspapers.com
Dogs have served in the military for decades. Their contributions through various wars have saved the lives of many. Read more about the much-deserved memorial dedicated in their honor and the lives of those they have touched.
Decades later, Vietnam War dogs are remembered
By JESSICA RAVITZ, CNN, Feb 18, 2010
www.wavenewspapers.com
Maybe it was the sound of the wind cutting through the wire. Perhaps he caught a small vibration with his keen eyes. Or it could have been a slight difference in the air’s smell.
Whatever it was, when Sarge noticed that his Marine Corps handler, Fred Dorr, was creeping down the wrong path in the Vietnam jungle, the German shepherd did something he’d never done out in the field: He looked at Dorr and barked, before taking a seat.
“When he sat down, I knew there was a trip wire. I was one step away from it,” remembered Dorr, who with his dog in 1969 was “walking point,” leading the way for a dozen soldiers. Had the hidden explosive device been tripped, “It would have gotten half of us.”
More than 40 years later, the gratitude and love Dorr, 59, feels for the dog he served with is as strong as ever. And it’s for this reason that Dorr, president of the Vietnam Dog Handler Association, drove from his Yoakum, Texas, home to be in Southern California last week.
About 200 Vietnam War dog handlers, who were trained to read and communicate with their canine partners, gathered for a reunion. On Saturday they joined several thousand others for the 10th anniversary rededication of the War Dog Memorial at the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside.
Read the rest of Jessica’s article.