Wordless Wednesday -A Memorial Day Tribute

Dogs, Reflections

I forgot to take pictures this week for my wordless Wednesday post so I decided to be a little wordy. 🙂

Monday was Memorial Day here in the U.S.A.. It’s the Day we remember those military Men and Women who lost their lives serving our country. Today I want to pay tribute to what the U.S. Department of Defense refers to as Four-Legged-Fighters. “Dogs didn’t have an official role in the U.S. military until the creation of the Army K-9 Corps in 1942. But they’ve joined American troops in battle since the nation’s earliest days, and many are still remembered today for their acts of canine courage.” (Click the above link to learn more about our military working dogs.)

Click here to learn more about the Memorial Working Dog Teams Monument located at Joint Base San Antonio – Lackland in Texas.

Thanks for visiting.

13 thoughts on “Wordless Wednesday -A Memorial Day Tribute”

  3. Fascinating topic. And timely. The link you posted is packed with information. Thank you. Hopefully there will come a day when all our veterans ( both two legged and four) are treated with the honor and respect they have earned .

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  4. That was very interesting Ruth. I know they would be put through some rigorous training, but to see what they learn made it more real. The story about Sergeant Rex and Megen Leavey and their situation post-injury was something I didn’t know i.e. that it was hard fought for and I naturally would have assumed since they had not only bonded, but worked together, then were wounded together, it would seem fitting they should remain together forever, especially if Megan (or even Rex) might have had PTSD from the IED explosion I don’t have TV, but I do subscribe to Amazon Prime and I can rent the movie referenced, the 2017 drama film “Megan Leavey”. Thank you for sharing this info. Our four-legged warriors should never be taken for granted.

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    1. They are very selective about dogs that get accepted into the program and yes training is very rigorous for both dog and handler.
      You would think that a home with the handler would be first choice when dogs retire. Even if they don’t have PTSD separation anxiety can be bad as well. So happy you liked this.

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      1. I don’t understand either as it would be a win-win for the handler and dog. I did enjoy the post and stories Ruth and sent this post to a friend/former co-worker of mine. She lives in Canada (Kingsville) and she used to work with her own German Shepherds and Golden Retrievers, teaching them to track and competed in and judged tracking competitions. But then she got involved with the police department training K-9 officers.
        She brought in a newspaper clipping of how she worked with the Windsor, Ontario Police Department years ago to train the K-9 officers before having K-9 officers was routinely done at police departments. She e-mailed me she enjoyed the post and reading the two linked articles.

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      2. Thanks for sharing this post, Linda. It takes a very disciplined person to that kind of work. Consistency is so important. I imagine it is very rewarding as well.

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      3. Ilene enjoyed it as I knew she would Ruth. She is down to two dogs at her home now, but when I worked with her 25 years ago she had ten or twelve dogs at the time, all Shepherds and Goldens. She belonged to a tracking group and one of the women was ill and asked if members in the group would split up and take her dogs after she passed away, so Ilene suddenly found herself with even more dogs once her friend passed away. I always like when I see that funds are raised to provide bulletproof vests for the K-9 officers. I think they should be outfitted with them when they have their first day of duty.

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