The Airborne and Special Operations Museum (ASOM) in Fayetteville, NC will be honoring a very important part of the Special Operations success in recent years by honoring the K-9 heroes of the military.
On May 29, the ASOM will pay tribute to the canine members of the Special Operations community with a Memorial Day service held in partnership with the Special Operations Forces K9 Memorial Foundation at noon.
“These truly daring and brave dogs often lead their soldier team-members in the most dire conditions to save lives and complete the mission,” said Paul Galloway, executive director of the Airborne & Special Operations Museum Foundation. “They’ve given their lives for their country, and we are grateful to be able to honor them on this special day.”
The special guest speaker for the event will be Laura Miller, who served as a veteran technician in the Army for 26 years. Miller is vice president of the SOF K9 Memorial Foundation, which she co-founded in 2010, and is the author of a children’s book, “How I Became a K-9 Commando.”
Following the ceremony, Miller will read from the book in the museum’s video theater. The book tells the story of a Dutch-born pup who becomes a special operations military working dog.
The military began the “K-9 Corps” 75 years ago, but after Vietnam, the use of dogs was curtailed for the mainly law enforcement type of operations. Dogs were used for bomb sniffing, drug detection and for the quelling of riots and/or protests.
But the rise of the use of dogs by Special Operations troops has made them a common sight on the battlefields of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. There are currently more than 2500 working dogs on duty with the military. Over 700 at any given time are deployed overseas.
These dogs are fiercely loyal, courageous and have saved many operators’ lives during the wars ongoing. Cry havoc…and let slip, the dogs of war.
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Photo courtesy of the Fayetteville Observer