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Utah memorial honors canine war heroes

PROVO, Utah — From the Revolutionary War to the wars in Iraq and Afhanistan, dogs have served faithfully alongside America’s fighting men and women. But rarely has there been any public recognition for man’s best friend in a world where a man most needs a friend.

Alan Cunningham appreciates the roles dogs have played during wartime and is hoping others will take notice. This month, the American Fork veterinarian unveiled a memorial at Utah Veterans Memorial Park near Camp Williams, honoring America’s four-legged service members.

Near the entrance to the visitors’ center, a bronze German shepherd sits majestically over a plaque that reads “In honor of canine war heroes and forgotten service animals.”

After reading an article about the dogs that served the U.S. in the Vietnam War, Cunningham spent several years and $9,000 on the monument.

“I think of the lives of these great heroes. Their lives are unsung and I’m trying to get their story told,” he said.

The War Dog Memorial Fund in Corona, Calif., estimates that 4,900 dogs served the U.S. in Vietnam. In the field, they would take the point in front of their handlers, warning troops of enemy soldiers and trip wires. In firefights, the dogs were known to shield troops with their bodies and drag the wounded to safety, Cunningham said. In the troops’ down time, the dogs served as much-needed companions.

Maurice Johnson of the War Dog Memorial Fund said those dogs are credited with saving 10,000 American lives in a war that claimed 58,000.

“There would be more than 10,000 [more] names on the wall if it weren’t for the dogs,” she said, referring to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The War Dog Memorial Fund hopes to erect a national war dog memorial there, as well.

Dogs’ roles as service members go back to founding of this country, according to Maj. Hank McIntire of the Utah National Guard. Soldiers kept their pet dogs with them in the field and sometimes used them to send messages.

Today, dogs still serve the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan, serving as guards or sniffing for bombs in places where explosives claim the lives of scores of soldiers.

At least one Utah soldier owes his life to a war dog. Army Sgt. Joey Fowler of Orem was serving in Iraq in December 2005 when his Humvee hit an improvised explosive device. Fowler suffered severe burns on 54 percent of his body, but his dog, a Belgian Tervuren named Dak, took most of the shrapnel. Dak lost his life that day but saved Fowler’s.

Cunningham is not the only Utah resident who was moved by the story of the war dogs of Vietnam. Glennis Liberty of Provo learned of them after watching a video she came across at a pet store. While taking her German shepherd, Doc, to a veterinary clinic in Provo where Cunningham sometimes works, she was told about Cunningham’s memorial project.

Liberty was interested in the project and the clinic told Cunningham he should contact her. They met, and Doc ended up being the model for the memorial’s statue, made by sculptor Mark Davenport.

Like Cunningham, Liberty was surprised to learn how integral dogs have been to American military history. Both said they are hoping the memorial will help raise awareness.

“I think the gesture is wonderful and I would love for as many people to see it as possible. Especially the dog owners. I’m sure they’re going to appreciate what dogs are really capable of doing,” she said.

Cunningham is working not only to honor the dogs’ service but to memorialize the lives that were lost. When the U.S. pulled its combat troops from Vietnam, he said, the government considered the dogs to be equipment. Most were euthanized.

“It really was disheartening to a lot of the soldiers. To this day, a lot of them still grieve the untimely, unnecessary loss of those animals,” Cunningham said. “So this is a way to help them get reconciliation.”

Dogs are not the only animals that have served America during wartime, and the plaque on the memorial honors those other service animals, as well. Horses carried troops into battle. Passenger pigeons were used to send notes from the battlefield. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, dolphins helped the military detect mines in the waters of the Persian Gulf.

Cunningham is pleased that his dream of a war dog memorial is finally a reality, but he is not stopping there. He has petitions in veterinary clinics calling for a commemorative stamp for the animals, and has sent about 6,000 signatures to the postmaster general. He is also publishing “Silent Voices,” a book about the war dogs he said he hopes to release this summer.