During the Rose Bowl Parade on 1 January 2013 a floral replica of the monument will be in the parade. That is one float we are looking forward to seeing. Later that day the float will be parked by the real monument.
The actual monument will have a present day soldier and four dogs. The dogs are a Doberman, German Shepherd, Labrador Retriever and Belgian Malinois. The eventual home of the monument will be Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. That is the place where the Alamo is located.
Here is a link to the Associated Press Report on the monument and a second link to about the monument that is taking donations for the monument. Both sites have pictures of the monument and the second link has interesting reading about the True Dog Faced Soldiers and their service in the United States Military.
For instance by late 1944 there were seven primary breeds of dogs chosen for military service. One of those breeds was the Collie. Collies were trained as messengers because we were fast, alert, had excellent endurance and easy to work with. We knew that, but it was nice having Dad read it to us.
Dog Speed,
Essex & Sherman
6 comments:
That's a great thing to do for dogkind. I will be looking for the float at the Rose Bowl. Would've been great to see a collie in the statue. I think Vandenberg AFB, CA had a statue in front of their K-9 unit blog memory serves me correctly.
Collies are excellent choices to serve...and you guys represent the breed especially well!
It is wonderful to honour the brave dogs that serves with humans to protect the country.
You're right, buddy, we must honor the canine soldiers for what they do to protect us
Cotton
Recognizing the work and sacrifice of canine soldiers and having a memorial is a wonderful thing. We don't have that in Canada but I found some items that are worth reading. There's a book called Sergeant Gander: A Canadian Hero which is about a Newfoundland dog who protected Canadian soldiers during the seige of Hong Kong and made the ultimate sacrifice when he carried away a grenade, saving the soldiers. He was posthumously awarded the highest Commonwealth animal honor, the Dickin Medal. Also worth looking at is http://www.canadianpolicecanine.com
Click 'Valour Row' The stories will have anyone reading them sobbing.
Dianne and Duffy
Few people seem to realize that collies were military working dogs at one time. Everyone seems to automatically think German Shepherd...
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