War Dogs.

Yesterday, NevadaDailySteve left this comment:

On my wall at work I have a small tribute to man's best friend by Darby Conley who does the Get Fuzzy comic strip. I can't read the date on it but it was a year or so ago. Titled Dogs in War it says:

More than 100,000 dogs served in the U.S. military in the 20th century, but to date there is no war dogs monument. 2 notable war dogs were:

Stubby, WWI. A stray, Stubby was smuggled to France aboard a troop ship. He served in many large battles, was wounded, captured a German spy single-handedly, located wounded soldiers, and in one instance alerted his soldiers to a surprise mustard gas attack. He is the most decorated war dog in U.S. history.

Chips, WWII. During the invasion of Sicily, Chips stormed an enemy machine gun pillbox, cornering 4 soldiers. Later that night he helped capture 10 more. He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star for valor.

I never thought about dogs having their own war memorial until I read that. Having seen it, I can't imagine why they don't.

I never thought about dogs having their own war memorial until I read that. Having seen it, I can't imagine why they don't.

I couldn't let that go unanswered. The War Dogs do, indeed, have their own monument. Several, in fact. There is an extensive exhibit dedicated to War Dogs and their handlers at the National Infantry Museum. The picture at the top of this post is of the War Dogs Memorial on the Field of Honor at Fort Benning, where the K9's take an equal place with all the other monuments.

And that's only one of them.

There's at least one for four-legged Marines.

There's even one in a privately owned pet cemetery.

There's one planned for the New Jersey Vietnam Veteran's Memorial.

This website lists specific dogs...

So, never fear, Steve. We warriors are sappy, sloppy, emoters inside. And we don't forget our comrades. Regardless of the number of feet they may have, or whether or not they get away with having hairy faces.

Especially the ones where no one would look at you funny if you were getting sloppy kisses from them in your foxhole.