This holiday weekend, we pause to acknowledge those brave men and women who gave their lives to ensure our freedoms. Serving along side them, with every bit as much bravery, have been America’s Military Working Dogs.

Memorial Day pays tribute to the nearly unfathomable price paid by those who died in the service of our country. Often forgotten in that dark tally are the lives of the dogs that accompanied our troops into battle. 232 US-owned MWDs died in the Iraq War(OIF)and the Afghan War (OEF) according to the most recent(2018) official data I could find. This number does not include contractor owned or non-US forces owned dogs.

This year, COVID19 has made all elements of our lives a little strange. Despite the internal struggle we are facing as a nation, the uncertainty of our futures, and the the divisions we see and feel in the daily news, let us all take a moment to recognize the sacrifice so many have made for us and to pay our respect for that incredible cost.

“Soldiers never die until they are forgotten.” Let us never forget.