Francis "Bucky" Grimm and Duke were best of friends when they served at Vietnam's Da Nang Air Base in 1966. It was Grimm and his German Shepherd partner's job to provide security at the base. "Duke and I were together 24 hours a day for a year in Vietnam," said Grimm, 59, Long Branch, who served as a sentry dog handler. "He was more than a partner, he was a friend and he helped save many lives." Although many of the men have been recognized for their military service, the canine partners were not. Now Grimm and a group of New Jersey military dog handlers want to change that and are working to raise money to build a U.S. War Dog Memorial on the grounds of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial complex in Holmdel. On May 10, the group unveiled a scale model of a statue of a war dog and his handler at the complex. Sculptor Bruce Lindsay, 41, Yardley, Pa., of the Technical Institute of Sculptors, designed the statue using 17-year-old Travis Aiello, Burlington, and German Shepherd Noa, owned by Kathleen and Bruce Brodkin, Langhorne, Pa, as models. The United States War Dog Association hopes to raise $70,000 to pay for the cost of the life-size bronze statue of a war dog and his handler atop a polished black granite base. The state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs has already given its approval for the statue, and Stephen G. Abel, retired Army colonel who is administrator for cemeteries, monuments, memorials and museums, said the statue could be placed at the entrance to the walkway leading down to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. "These war dogs saved lives and they should be remembered," said Grimm, who is treasurer of the association. "Duke was an exceptional dog. He was very talented and had a lot of abilities even before I took him," recalled Grimm. "He could have been a show dog, he was so talented. "He knew hand commands and how to sit, heel, stay and go down. I used to entertain the marines with him." After Grimm's 12-month tour of duty he went home, but Duke stayed behind with a new handler, said Grimm. Dogs were used in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm and Bosnia, according to Ron Aiello, 57, Burlinton, president of the association. "More than 4,000 dogs were used in Vietnam and only 190 of them returned home," he said. "About 260 of them were killed in combat, others were euthanized or turned over to the South Vietnamese. "These courageous canine heroes saved the lives of more than 10,000 American servicemen in Vietnam. Now is the time to thank them for their service by establishing a monument in their honor," said Aiello. Aiello and Stormy were among the first of 30 Marine Corps Scout Dog Teams to go to Vietnam in 1966. "For the next 13 months we lived together, slept and ate together, and, of course, most importantly, Stormy saved my life and the many fellow Marines whom we were assigned to protect," Aiello said. Aiello recalled a few examples of how Stormy saved his life and the lives of others during his tour of Vietnam. "On one occasion, Stormy gave me an alert to a hidden sniper," he recalled. "On another, she detected a booby trap just outside of a village. It was an explosive charge attached to a gateway with a trip wire. And on another occasion she gave an alert to an enemy ambush. These are just a few examples." Bob Thompson, 53, Shrewsbury, said he often thinks about Kazan, the dog he worked with in the Army's 43rd Scout Dog Platoon. The duo were on patrol near the Cambodian border in 1971 when Kazan started to make an alert. When a dog's head went up or ears perked, that was the cue to the handler that there was danger ahead. "Then I heard boom, boom, boom and the last thing I saw was the dog up in the air," he said. "That's the last I ever saw of him." Aiello said association members attend dog shows and makes presentations at schools and community groups in order to promote the long history of military service dogs. They are also selling bandannas and T-shirts in an effort to raise money for the memorial. Donations may be mailed to U.S. War Dog Memorial, c/o Bucky Grimm, treasurer, 183 Cummings Ave., Long Branch, NJ 07744. For more information contact Ron Aiello or call Ron Aiello at (609) 387-2587. |
