Semper Fidelis

In 1796, Napoleon wrote: “No occurrence of any of my other battlefields impressed me so keenly. I halted on my tour to gaze at the spectacle and reflect on its meaning...This soldier, I realized, must have had friends at home and in his regiment; yet he lay there deserted by all except his dog... I had looked on, unmoved, at battles which decided the future of nations. Tearless, I have given orders which brought death to thousands. Yet here I was stirred, profoundly stirred, stirred to tears. And by what? The grief of one dog.” ( Napoleon had come across a loyal dog sitting by a soldier’s corpse, groaning and licking his hand).

In 2000, Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) introduced HR 5314 to allow adoption of military dogs. He wrote: “Our service dogs must be honored and treated as heroes because that is what they are. And they must be allowed to retire to loving homes, as any soldier is. They have served us with honor and distinction, and have saved countless American sons and daughters from injury and death. They have risked their own death and injury for no more than the love and affection of their handlers. They would never, ever have left us behind, and they would never give up on us because we were too old or infirm to do our jobs anymore. If they can offer us this sort of service and devotion, how can we do less for them? We own them.”