War dog cemetery in Michigan draws national acclaim

Much has been written about the fate of the American military working dogs that served in Vietnam, but Jonathan Schechter, a wildlife writer employed by the Oakland County (Mich.) government, makes a long story short.

He has visited the Michigan War Dog Memorial site in South Lyon, Mich., and commented about how the property has been “transformed into a beautiful, yet somber place that openly reveals some of the tragedy that had fallen on our military working dogs.”

Schechter said: “I walked over to a large, black wall about the Vietnam War and was stunned by what I discovered…4,234 names on the wall: names of dogs – dogs that were trained and deployed to Vietnam with their military handlers.”

He revealed the sad, sad story. “As negotiations brought the war to an end, and orders came down that the troops were going home in 1975, the dog handlers were excited about bringing their much-loved, four-legged combat partners home.”

“That was not to be, for our government classified the dogs as ‘excess equipment,’ with orders that they be left behind,” Schechter reported. Most of the U.S. war dogs in Vietnam were euthanized rather than abandoned.

The Animal Welfare Institute credited U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and the late U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., for championing legislation in Congress “to rectify this inequity.”

In 2015, Congress passed legislation that guarantees the “safe return of all retired military dogs to the United States after serving abroad.”

Schechter said all the dogs’ names and tattoo numbers are etched into the granite “Vietnam K9 Memorial Wall” at South Lyon. “They will be forever memorialized and will never be forgotten. I ran my hand over the wall and easily imagined the pain, anger and intense sadness the handlers and other soldiers felt.”

This is the only place in the country that displays the names all the of Vietnam war dogs that were left behind, reported Sara Simnitch of WNEM-TV in Saginaw, Mich. (How dagnabbitly patriotic is that?)

Phil Weitlauf, an Army veteran, is the president of the Michigan War Dog Memorial. He said: “There are about 36 war dog memorials throughout the United States, but only two memorials offer burials, one in Hartsdale, N.Y., and ours.”

Jeff DeYoung of Muskegon, Mich., a retired Marine dog handler, served with Cena, a black Labrador, in Afghanistan in October 2009. “In every aspect, Cena had shed blood, pain, sweat and tears for this country,” DeYoung remarked. Cena died at age 10 in July 2017, after a battle with bone cancer.”

DeYoung brought the dog to be laid to rest at the Michigan War Dog Memorial cemetery, because he said South Lyon is the “Arlington Cemetery for dogs.”

Weitlauf contacted the U.S. Department of Defense to inquire if there was a “proper procedure” for burying a military dog? “No, sir,” was the response. So, Weitlauf and others developed one to use at South Lyon. The protocol became:

Bag piper, full color guard, eight German shepherds escorting the remains to the table of honor, invocation, reading of the biography, presenting a folded American flag to the handler, “Taps” by a bugler and “Amazing Grace” on the pipes. The German shepherds have been trained to howl on command, called a “K9 Salute to their Fallen Comrade,” for a full 30 seconds.

In 2017, veteran singer-songwriter Kenny Lang of Macomb Township, just north of Detroit, recorded “Four Legged Hero” as a tribute to the Michigan War Dog Memorial. Lang, whose genre is bluegrass and southern gospel, agreed to donate all proceeds from the record’s sale to the memorial, a nonprofit organization.

The song is about a German shepherd puppy named Emmy Lou who grows up to become a valiant war dog and becomes the closest friend and a true and faithful partner. She is praised for giving all she can to do her duty.