Georgia XX

Those of you who have followed this site for any length of time know that I have a soft spot for dogs, especially those who stood by us in Nam.

This memorial in Alphretta, Georgia honors several from the area who gave their all in Nam, but also, honors our noble companions and friends.

But first, as you enter, you are greeted by this guy.

Before you even get to the memorial for our comrades you come upon this fellow still keeping sentry.

I may have told you before of the fate of these magnificent animals, but if not, I'll tell it again as I may never get over my anger.

When the end of the war came the powers that be decided that they were merely equipment and were left behind, abandoned, deserted. It is estimated that about 4,000 dogs were just estimated to be not worth our time. Some 200 are said to have made it home through one means or another.

I had a dog in Nam. She was not an Army dog, just a dog that belonged to my unit. From the first day I joined the group it become clear that she was mine. She would be with me in every situation that was possible. While she was not a trained sentry dog of any kind, you might find some night runners and CQs that might argue that after trying to rouse me for whatever reason.

I had planned to bring her home. I saved the two months pay it was going to cost, took her to animal husbandry in Saigon to get her cleared but it was not to be. About 10 days before I was to leave she had ten pups. I couldn't bring them all home and I could not take her away from them as they were too young to survive on their own. 

It nearly broke my heart but I passed her on to another guy in the unit and have trusted ever since that she was OK.

Click on the link below to read more about what happened to the dogs the brass decided were not worth the effort. Just another of their many screw ups in my opinion.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/03/opinion/the-dogs-of-the-vietnam-war.html 

Next time, on the 25th, we will return to Maryland, so meet me there, as always, at 9:00am.

To see additional memorials from Georgia, or any other state, please click on the state name on the left side of this page.