The small group of veterans gathers at March Field Air Museum in Riverside, Calif., once a year, traveling from all corners of the country, to mourn forgotten heroes of battle.
They come to honor the dogs that saved lives by detecting booby traps and watching over military camps, dogs that became trusted friends in times of loneliness.
The meeting point is the 16-foot- tall West Coast War Dog Memorial, which holds a bronze statue of a soldier and his German shepherd.
For years, veterans have sought to have the contributions of war dogs recognized with a national monument.
The West Coast memorial, designed by Evergreen sculptor A. Thomas Schomberg, was to have been placed at Riverside National Cemetery, but a national Veterans Affairs advisory committee argued that doing so would be disrespectful. The museum agreed to take it, and the veterans meet there every year on the Sunday before Memorial Day.
“It honors another aspect of the military that is forgotten,” said Patricia Korzec, the museum’s executive director. “Man’s best friend truly turned out to be man’s best friend on the battlefield.”
Legislation currently weaving through Congress would establish a national memorial at Fort Belvoir, Va. It is included in the House’s 2008 defense authorization bill and is waiting to be heard in the Senate. If passed, it could be signed into law as early as November.
The tribute could not come sooner for many war dog handlers, most of whom were forced to leave their dogs behind when they returned to the U.S. after World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
John Burnam, a Vietnam veteran who spent countless days with his German shepherd, Clipper, credits the dog with saving his life several times.
Once while on combat patrol, Clipper stopped, his muscles tensed and ears perked toward the sky. Burnam, who always followed the dog’s lead, ducked to the ground.
Machine gun fire erupted, killing a soldier in front of them.
Burnam said he and Clipper played dead for 10 minutes before help arrived.
If not for Clipper, Burnam said, he has no doubt that he would have died.
“We were basically leading combat patrols, and the dogs, with their natural abilities, were leading us,” he said.
