US War Dogs 25th Anniversary Event
Honoring the K-9 Community: The Human Stories Behind
Monuments and Memorials
As part of our birthday ceremony in San Antonio, TX, we reflected on the heritage deep within the fabric of our organization, of honoring the K-9 community with monuments and memorials.
As founding president, Ron Aiello, took to the stage to introduce the impetus to raise funds for the first monument in honor of our nation’s K-9s and their handlers – past, present and future, the ceremony’s program reflected on what it means to memorialize particular stories or honor the contribution to specific conflicts.
Creating pieces of art that evoke human connection, generate conversation, community pride and educate the public on the role of K-9s in the military – is as important today as it was back in 2006 when the US War Dogs memorial was unveiled in New Jersey.
Sharing some of the projects that US War Dogs had supported or commissioned over the last two-and-a-half decades, the audience were treated to some of the details of the monuments and memorials from our history, including:
- The life-sized monument of Medal of Honor recipient, staff sergeant Robert Hartsock and his scout dog, Duke, which stands to honor all those who served in Vietnam, dedicated in September 2020.
- The life-sized statue of a female dog handler with her K-9, which stands at Arlington National Cemetery’s Women’s Memorial in Virginia. Entitled, The Pledge, it stands to honor all female service personnel in combat roles.
- The sculpture of US Marine Corps specialized search dog, Lucca, dedicated at the Tuscaloosa Veteran Memorial Park, Alabama. The depiction of Lucca with her snout in the air, ready to work, stands to honor all MWDs that served since WWI and features both Lucca’s personal story, alongside a short history of the service of military K-9s.
This roll call of memorials shows the geographical spread and variety of the stories and motivations behind each piece. They become part of the fabric of the community and of its local history and we are honored to have played a part in bringing each individual story or act of remembrance to life.
Although the stories behind these monuments and memorials become a piece of public property, the human emotions and stories behind them, cannot be forgotten.
In 2021, US War Dogs supported the dedication of the Service and Sacrifice monument at the US Navy Memorial in Washington D.C.
The statue depicts a larger-than-life-sized bronze of SEAL Team Six handler, John Douangdara and his MWD, Bart, who were killed alongside 29 US Army soldiers and Navy SEALs in August 2011.
The Service and Sacrifice monument at the US Navy Memorial in Washington D.C.
We were honored to be joined in San Antonio by John’s two sisters – Ari and Chan and Chan agreed to share some words about John and what his memorial meant to their family.
Chan’s speech was as informative as it is moving and we are honored to be able to share it with you here. A heartfelt thanks once again to Chan and Ari for attending and for being so generous with sharing their experiences with us.
