K9 VETERANS DAY

Tommy, a Chief Explosives Detection canine stationed at Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team Kings Bay, receives applause Thursday, July 27, 2017, during his retirement ceremony in St. Mary’s, Georgia. Tommy has served in the Coast Guard for nine years and has been on 24 deployments. (U.S. Coast Guard/Anthony L. Soto)

National K9 Veterans Day, March 13, is a day set aside to honor and commemorate the service and sacrifices of American military and working dogs throughout history.

Joe White, a Vietnam War veteran from Jacksonville, Florida, started K9 Veterans Day. White was a dog handler who saw firsthand how valiantly K9s served in the conflict and was disturbed by the euthanasia of working dogs at the end of their military service. This process has since been abolished. To raise awareness and honor the sacrifices of military working dogs, White came up with the idea of a holiday commemorating them.

Today’s military dogs are valued as important members of their military units and even have their own retirement ceremonies, awards and medals and memorial services.
Just because they don’t wear uniforms (most of the time) doesn’t mean they don’t deserve our recognition. K-9 Veterans Day serves as a tribute to these canine heroes, some of whom have faced bullets and bravely sniffed out dangers we can’t even see.

During WWI, dogs were used as messengers by European forces. They also hauled supply carts and machine guns, located wounded soldiers, and carried medical kits. In WWII, dogs served in various branches, acting as scouts, guarding supply posts and camps, and rescuing downed pilots. The Vietnam War marked the largest deployment of dogs in U.S. military history. Canines proved invaluable in the jungle environment of Southeast Asia, with the military greatly refining techniques for handlers and K-9s alike. Unfortunately, less than 200 military working dogs made it back home from the original 20,000. Today working dogs detect explosives and narcotics, and they have much better welfare thanks to the military learning from its past mistakes.