SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCE DOG MEMORIAL

THE BRONZE MONUMENT ON A GRANITE BASE DEPICTS A LIFE-SIZE BELGIAN MALINOIS IN A SITTING POSITION, VIGILANTE, WITH EARS PERKED AND WEARING HIS FULL DEPLOYMENT KIT. THE MONUMENT WAS PLACED AS A SYMBOL OF RESPECT AND MOURNING FOR SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCE (SOF) DOGS THAT HAVE PERISHED IN THE LINE OF DUTY SINCE THE SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 TERRORIST ATTACKS. EACH OF THOSE DOGS IS REPRESENTED BY A PAVER PLACED AROUND THE BASE OF THE STATUE AND INCLUDES THE DOG’S NAME, THE YEAR AND THEATER OF OPERATIONS WHERE THE DOG WAS KILLED. SPECIAL OPERATIONS DOGS FROM THE UNITED STATES ALLIES, AUSTRALIA AND THE UNITED KINGDOM, ARE ALSO MEMORIALIZED. THE STATUE WAS DEDICATED ON JULY 27, 2013, TEN YEARS TO THE DAY AFTER MULTI-PURPOSE CANINE MPC, IVAN, WAS KILLED IN IRAQ. AS OF 2016 THERE WERE 62 MEMORIAL PLAQUES.