Veterans
honor dogs used in 9/11 search, rescue
11/5/2002
NEW
YORK (AP) - After raising money to help victims of last year's
terrorist
attacks and other causes, the Vietnam Veterans of America found they
still
had "a few bucks left," so they bought a dog. Not just any dog, but one
of the hundred or so plastic DOGNY statues that are being placed around
New York City by the American Kennel Club, commemorating the search and
rescue dogs of ground zero. The veterans' dog, gussied up in camouflage
combat gear, was placed in the lobby of the Veterans Affairs hospital
in
Manhattan, where it was dedicated Monday to honor the 4,000 scout,
sentry
and tracker dogs and their military handlers who served in the Vietnam
War. The statue depicts a dog clad in camouflaged helmet and poncho,
web
gear, canteen and boots, with a "K-9" dog tag around its neck. Of the
dogs
that served with U.S. forces in Vietnam, about 280 were killed in
action.
Unlike the original K-9 Corps dogs of World War I and World War II, the
rest of them did not return home. Concerns about disease and
readjustment
mandated that they be put down.
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