War Dogs Memorial: Dedication, Comments, by Seth Hart. 2000.

Talk about a bitter sweet flashback. The last 30 years have flown by like a dream. I felt honored to be in the presence of so many wonderful people at the dedication. Heroes all in my opinion. Charlie and I, along with his son, had breakfast at IHOP in Riverside the morning of the ceremony and discussed old memories. How to start to say thank you to all who had a part in putting this together would take more pages than our paper DOGMAN could handle in the next few years so I'll try to summarize. To Mr. Bennet and CO--a big Thank You for your involvement--and I know Tom went the extra mile in all the things involved in putting this together. The VFW in my opinion deserves a big Thank You for making us feel like special people. The police departments in my opinion did great in their show of support. Those guys have on their team real winners! After all, who can lose with all those fine animals. In something of the magnitude of what climaxed on Monday the 21st there are always people that worked quietly behind the scenes that made sacrifices that would be hard to say thank you to enough. To those people I would say God Bless You real big because of your labor--you made it a great day for this Dog Handler. I also would say I sensed a mystical side to the occasion. I imagined all the dogs that had ever served showing up in the spirit and saying thanks guys for finally remembering and showing us honor. I want to say also Thank You to my Creator for guiding my steps in the direction of the dog program at Ft. Benning. It was almost accidental, or coincidental, that I became involved in the Scout Dog program. To God I say Thank You, and I am eternally greatful for allowing me to serve with such a fine group of men and dogs. On a final note I would challenge every Dog Handler to ask yourself the question, "Why did I make It back and how can I make it up"? I'm here in one piece so how can I serve my fellow man and my God? God gave us a great gift when he gave us our dogs but he gave us a greater gift when he gave his own Son to die in our place. If you were to pass from this life today, where would you spend eternity? Thanks again to everyone that had anything to do with putting the dedication together, and God Bless You real good. It was a day I will long remember. Yours Truly, Seth D. Hart, 57th IPSD, 48th IPSD