On June 10, 2006, at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the new United States War Dog Memorial will be unveiled.

The memorial is reportedly the first war memorial sanctioned by the United States Government that honors the war dogs and their handlers. It's the idea of Ron Aiello and his non-profit group U.S. War Dog Association.

The Association wrote to the Governnor of New Jersey to pitch the idea. A couple weeks later they got a reply from the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Right now the Association is trying to raise $80,000.00 to cover the total expenses, and has about $15,000 left to go.

Anyone wanting to contribute to the memorial can do so by clicking here.

Ron Aiello, a dog handler in the Vietnam War, started the U.S. War Dog Association to raise awareness of working military dogs that didn't get to come home with their handlers. It's estimated some 4,900 dogs served in the Vietnam War, and they saved the lives of 10,000 people, but the US government allowed ony 290 to come home, euthanizing the others, or turning them over to the South Vietnamese Army.

In November 2000, Congress passed a law creating a formal process whereby war dogs could be adopted by their handlers and brought back home.