Today is Memorial Day 2026 in the United States, and we do not thank a soldier for their service—because the men and women we honor today are the ones who paid the ultimate sacrifice and are no longer here to hear it.

They left behind family, loved ones, friends, and a future. Often forgotten, however, are the four‑legged companions who also waited: the dogs who slept by the door, watched the gate, or listened for footsteps that would never return, never truly understanding why their person was gone. Anyone who has ever lost a dog knows all too well the agony of that grief—made even worse by watching the quiet suffering of the companion dog left behind, who has just lost their best mate.

In 1918, British artist Robert Morley painted “Will He Come Back?”—the depiction of a dog waiting faithfully for his soldier owner to return, but who never did.

Importantly, on the wall hangs a framed memorial scroll honoring a fallen soldier—Sapper Alexander Murray—recording that he “passed out of the sight of men by the path of duty and self‑sacrifice.” It tells us the “how.” The dog will never understand the “why.”

A century later, the question in Morley’s title still echoes in every dog who waits at the door for someone who will not be coming home.