In front of the wall, there is a statue of a dog and his handler. In addition to the dogs, the wall includes the names of 297 dog handlers, one veterinary and two veterinary technicians who died in the war.

“I wanted a wall similar to that wall with every dog’s name and numbers in alphabetical order so their handlers could come and find them.”

“In my mind, that’s the vision I had,” Mott said. The granite stone for the dog memorial came from the same quarry in India that was used for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Motts said it took three years to raise $113,000 for the memorial and complete the research and work of the memorial to ensure every dog’s name and serial number were listed on the wall.

I said we have to create a memorial, we have to do something to keep these dogs’ memories alive and let people know what they did,” she said. “I said people have to know what happened. Deputy Director Lori Motts said she was not aware of what dogs did during the Vietnam War, and she was upset about what happened to them. 28, 2019, at the Motts Military Museum in Groveport, Ohio, called The Vietnam War Dog Team Memorial to honor the 4,225 dogs who served Vietnam. The dogs who served in Vietnam are now receiving recognition.Ī memorial was unveiled Sept. “I didn’t think it was right that some people had to go while others did not,” he said. Gilleran volunteered for the service in Scranton, Pa., in 1970 after a couple of guys from his block were drafted and died. As a sentry, he monitored areas that contained ammunition and fuel, and he conducted perimeter sweeps and base security.

Joe Gilleran was a sentry and a dog handler in the Army in Ban Me Thuot, Vietnam, in 1970-71. Many of them at the event who passed by a tent set up by the Vietnam Veterans Dog Handler Association made similar comments: “I had no idea about dogs in Vietnam” and “Did we really leave dogs there?” Some service members tried to get their dogs back to the U.S., but only 204 dogs returned from Vietnam - 2,000 were euthanized.įew people attending a three-day “Welcome Home” commemoration in the nation’s capital to honor Vietnam veterans and mark the 50th anniversary of the war’s end knew about the dogs that served in Vietnam. But to the military, the efforts of the dogs were not a factor when it was time to come home.

The dog stars heller