Vietnam War dogs remembered, decades later

War dogs remembered, decades later
By Jessica Ravitz, CNN
February 12, 2010 1:29 p.m. EST

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Several thousand people will gather Saturday at a War Dog Memorial in California
Of the more than 4,000 dogs who served in Vietnam, only about 200 came home
Dogs, many of them euthanized, helped save more than 10,000 lives, historian says
In 2000, the U.S. changed policy, setting up a military working dog adoption program
(CNN) -- Maybe it was the sound of the wind cutting through the wire. Perhaps he caught a small vibration with his keen eyes. Or it could have been a slight difference in the air's smell.

Whatever it was, when Sarge noticed that his Marine Corps handler, Fred Dorr, was creeping down the wrong path in the Vietnam jungle, the German shepherd did something he'd never done out in the field: He looked at Dorr and barked, before taking a seat.

"When he sat down, I knew there was a trip wire. I was one step away from it," remembered Dorr, who with his dog in 1969 was "walking point," leading the way for a dozen soldiers. Had the hidden explosive device been tripped, "It would have gotten half of us."

More than 40 years later, the gratitude and love Dorr, 59, feels for the dog he served with is as strong as ever. And it's for this reason that Dorr, president of the Vietnam Dog Handler Association, drove from his Yoakum, Texas, home to be in Southern California this week.

About 200 Vietnam War dog handlers, who were trained to read and communicate with their canine partners, have gathered for a reunion. And on Saturday they'll join an expected several thousand others for the 10th anniversary rededication of the War Dog Memorial at the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside.

During the Vietnam War, more than 4,000 dogs served in various positions, said Michael Lemish, a military dog historian and author of "Forever Forward: K-9 Operations in Vietnam."
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War dogs remembered, decades later