DOGMAN

June 2002

Page 3

State of

Pedestals

Georgia cites

dedicated at

war dogs

Ft. Benning

by DIXIE WHITMAN

....Continued from Page One

opportunity to do something special and

Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes proclaimed

they knew it. They spent day after day and

May 11, 2002 as Military Dog Handler

hour upon hour with their masters --

Day in Georgia. This date coincided with

exactly where they wanted to be. These

the Fort Benning War Dog Memorial/

were working dogs and they were happy

Pedestal Dedication.

dogs."

This proclamation document outlines

On hand to unveil and dedicate the

the importance of the military dog handler

pedestals by placing flowers were Bernie

and his canine partner in various roles of

In  attendance  at  the  signing  of  the  proclamation  for  Military

Zika representing her deceased husband,

the military working dog from World War

War Dog Day in Georgia were, Front row: Spc. Horn with MWD, Ex; Richard Prest

World War II K-9 handler Richard Zika;

II through to the war on terrorism.

(Navy Sentry); and Sgt. Upton with MWD. Nanda; Back row: Ken Besecker (Army

Combat Tracker Team);, Jesse Mendez (Instructor, Fort Benning);, John Billiot (Navy,

Leo Suiter, the last Korea wartime

Attending the signing ceremony in the

SEAL); Stanley Stockdale (Army, Scout Dog), and  John Guerrero (Marine, Scout

commander of the 26th Scout Dog

governor's office were eight handlers and

Platoon; Norm Ream of the 42nd Scout

two military working dogs representing

Dog Platoon;. John Dupla of the 62th

various branches of the military. Also

Sculptors work on designs

Combat Tracker Team and VDHA Vice

attending were three supporters from the

President; and Kenneth Hartsock and Fred

German Shepherd Dog Club of Atlanta.

Hartsock, father and brother respectively

Included in the proclamation is the

for U.S. War Dog Memorial

of Robert Hartsock.

following statement:

Col. Robert Nett, a Medal of Honor

"Georgia is proud to recognize the

recipient for his actions in the Philippines

by DICK KING

United States Armed Forces canine

committee members, this information will

during World War II, was on hand to

National War Dog Advisory Committee

handlers and their dogs who have given

be given to the selected artists, and a

participate and spoke to the gathering

of themselves to ensure our continued

second round of sketches will be

Several months ago the National War

about his combat experiences with dog

freedom, liberty and way of life."

requested, prior to endorsing their

Dog Memorial Fund Committee visited

teams and also about the history of the

concepts and requesting that models be

The proclamation also includes the

over 300 sculptors' galleries on the

Medal of Honor.

made.

following message to citizens from Gov.

Internet, and mailed requests to 16

Fort Benning Chief of Staff Col.

Barnes: "(I) call upon our citizens to

These models will then be incorporated

sculptors inviting them to compete for the

Lonnie Dale Vonna represented Chief of

recognize the outstanding contributions

in our application to the National Capital

memorial's design and construction. Ten

Infantry and Post Commander Major

these men and their dogs have made in

Planning Commission and are required to

sculptors responded in the affirmative.

General Paul Eaton.

the defense of our nation."

comply with the "Commemorative Zone

Preliminary sketches and information

Vonna formally accepted the pedestals

Policy" as developed by the interagency

More information on the proclamation

has been submitted by each of the

on behalf of Fort Benning. He also spoke

task force established in September 1999.

is in Dick King's Navy Unit report on

sculptors/artists, along with additional

of the contributions made by the War Dog

Page 6.

The plan is to be at this point in the

works submitted by several artists who

teams  and  recited  a  post-wide

process prior to the Reunion in St. Louis

For a look at the complete proclamation

heard of our project, presumably via

proclamation issued by Gen. Eaton which

in October, so that the models can be

on the Internet, use this address: http://

DOGMAN, or the web sites.

declared May 11th as "Honor War Dogs

presented to the membership at that time

w w w. i l l u s i o n s g a l l e r y. c o m /

All information submitted was then

Day" at Fort Benning (the text of the

for your review.

Proclamation.html

reproduced in a CD format and mailed to

proclamation is in the April issue of

each of the VDHA officers and committee

DOGMAN).

members for voting. Three sculptors are

Kenneth Goss, a 65th CTT member,

being asked to continue.

then conducted a special remembrance

The artists did a lot of hard work. Their

ceremony to honor the men and dogs who

research of the subject matter, and their

had fallen in combat. Dedicators placed

commitment to our goal for a fitting

helmets on the butt end of inverted rifles

National War Dog Memorial was apparent

and bayonets after which a large American

in their submissions. These initial

flag was slowly raised while music from

selections were tough, but I expect the

the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" played.

final selection will be tougher still.

The ceremony was topped off when

But, however that final selection goes,

Wahl called to position the special guest

we'll end up with an awesome memorial

K-9 Honor Guard which consisted of five

to our dogs, of which we can all be proud.

handlers and German shepherds

representing the Atlanta chapter of the

Members of the Committee are

German Shepherd Dog Club of America.

currently reviewing the selected artists'

work, critiquing them primarily for

The dog teams lined the walkway

historical accuracy while leaving the

leading to the memorials as Taps was

artistic presentation up to the individual

played. Afterwards, veterans, families,

artist.

and guests approached the pedestals and

read the inscriptions.

Upon review and comment by the

Correction

Check out the VDHA

Vance L. McCrumb was misidentified

An honor guard of civilian and military dogs lined the walk to the speaker's podium, with

at

its backdrop the War Dogs Memorial, in the May 11 dedication of service pedestals on

in an article in the last issue. McCrumb

http://www.vdhaonline.org

May 11 at Ft. Benning, Ga. Details of the ceremony honoring war dogs and their handlers

was an Air Force sentry dog handler, and

are in an article starting on Page One and continuing on this page.

not a Marine as the article stated.