The first national monument to pay tribute to military dogs will be unveiled in California in just a couple months. The U.S. Working Dog Teams National Monument will honor every dog that has served in combat since World War II. Because this is a national monument, it joins the ranks of the Statue of Liberty, Yosemite National Park and Mount Rushmore. Cool! John Burnam, a veteran military dog handler and author of “Dog Tags of Courage” and “A Soldier’s Best Friend” pursued the monument after a reader asked him why there were no national monuments honoring military dogs.

In 2004, Burnam and two other dog handler veterans pursued the idea and formed the John Burnam Monument Foundation, Inc. Burnam pursued legislation for the monument’s authorization and also designed the monument himself. The monument depicts the modern military handler and four dogs, a Doberman, a German shepherd, a Labrador retriever and Belgian Malinois, all breeds used in wars. The monument is at Victory Park in Pasadena, California, a site chosen because it’s where most of the nation’s military dogs are trained. The monument makes its official debut in January. See a photo and read more about the monument’s story at the Huffington Post.

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