Forgotten Veterans - over 3800 left behind in the 'Nam. Ride Report

[Skinhead]

Today was a beautiful fall day in Michigan, all my riding buddies bailed on me today, so I struck off on my own.  Now the twisties (if you can call them that) are few and far between, in this part of MI, there are only a few good roads and I think we have covered most of them.  A favorite road of mine is North Territorial Road, and this time of year it is a great ride with a lot of the leaves still on the trees and the colors peaking.  

There is a bridge out in South Lyon, Mi and a couple weeks back on a ride out to NTR we passed a memorial I didn't know existed while we detoured around the bridge.  Today, I decided to stop and check it out, and it was a very moving experience.  The memorial is a work in progress, and kind of unique since it is the MI War Dog Memorial, dedicated to the working dogs that have served our country.  I was a Military Policeman K-9 handler when I was in the Army, and I had to leave 2 different dogs while I was in, one at Lackland AFB (K9 training) and one in Korea.  So, this really pulled at my heart strings.  

I didn't realize that we (the US military) left over 3800 K9s behind when we left Vietnam.  THIS WAS NOT THE HANDLERS DECISION!  This was ordered by some pencilneck REMF in Washington.  This is the kind of thing that disgusts me about my country, when we don't do the right thing.  With Veteran's Day Around the corner, I thought I would bring it to the Clubs attention.  Mac, if you would please, remember these 4 legged VETs on your ride.

Chenaynay - The mule I rode.


Entrance to the MI War Dog Memorial there is still work being done to complete this.




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To quote the Britman, "I like dogs..."

[The emperor has no clothes]

I had never heard that about the dogs in Vietnam . It is indeed shameful.

[f6john]

Question is, is it still happening today?  How are our K9 warriors being handled when their service is over?

[Skinhead]

Question is, is it still happening today?  How are our K9 warriors being handled when their service is over?

That I don't know.  I have seen news reports where retired dogs are reunited with their handlers, but I don't think that is the norm.  I believe in most cases when they are no longer fit for service or for use to train new handlers they are probably euthanized.  In Vietnam, they were just deserted.  Kind of like those pictures of them shoving Hueys off of aircraft carriers.

[Jess from VA]

Good write up. (this guy estimates that at the pullout, half our RVN war-dogs were euthanized and the other half eaten by the locals, after being left behind) (it supposedly never happens anymore, and there is a system in place now to find homes for retired dogs, safe to be with people and healthy, and many handlers put in for their former dogs)

http://www.vice.com/read/the-us-military-euthanized-or-abandoned-thousands-of-their-own-canine-soldiers-at-the-end-of-the-vietnam-war-253

This sounds (just) like a Robt McNamara decision, but he was not SecDef when we pulled out.  Not that it excuses anything, but remember the movies of the mad panic at the US Embassy and Saigon airport, and them shoving Hueys off the carrier decks getting out of there.

[Binkie]

Joe......I remember the 2nd shift emission lab supervisor  telling me about this place. Her husband and her and a bike group she was part of started cleaning and restoring that site. I think her name was JoAnn but I could be wrong.

[Skinhead]

https://youtu.be/0QCT05KqtzQ

[J.Mencalice]

Animals have never been anything but "equipment" to the bean counters of any military of any country at any time in history.  Think about it, read the books, and watch the historical films if you have the time.

[Skinhead]

Animals have never been anything but "equipment" to the bean counters of any military of any country at any time in history.  Think about it, read the books, and watch the historical films if you have the time.

I agree, especially horses and mules.  Hell for that matter, they consider the soldiers as equipment, how else cn you send a person to their destruction?  It doesn't make it right.

At least these K9s didn't suffer as long as the people we left behind.