The War Dogs Memorial at March Air Force Base in Riverside, California was spearheaded by the founder and CEO of “Nature’s Recipe,” Jeff Bennett in 1999. His fundraising campaign raised over $1 million for the creation of two War Dog Memorials, and a year later, the West Coast War Dog Memorial was dedicated at the March Field Air Museum.
The large bronze statue of a German Shepherd Dog with his handler in Vietnam was created by sculptor, Tom Schomberg, who said, “The War Dog Memorial, as I created it, is meant to illustrate the bond between humans and their canine friends. Second, and most importantly, it is to illustrate the sacrifice that these two figures have made under combat circumstances.”
A video of the dedication ceremony appears below:
With assistance form the War Dog Memorial Fund, the Vietnam Dog Handler Association met its goal of creating a second memorial to honor War Dog Teams on October 8,2000 on Sacrifice Field at Fort Benning, Georgia. Most of the dog teams that served in Korea and Vietnam trained at Fort Benning, and the monument was built to honor teams that served in all wars.