J'ACCUSE

On April 1, 2001, Richard Ben Cramer issued a polemic titled “They Were Heroes Too.” Published in Parade Magazine, it reached an audience of millions. Cramer intended to right what he deemed a conspicuous, longstanding wrong. When it comes to war, America's democracy has perpetrated its share of civic snubs against those who served it. On the Mall in Washington, DC, the nation's sacred symbolic space, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, and the World War II Memorial pay tribute to veterans in wars that were, respectively, reviled, forgotten, and slighted. It might seem that the completion of Friedrich St. Florian's grandiose World War II design settled memorial accounts. Not so. A unique group of vets has not received its due. Advocates have pushed for, among other things, a national monument, a tree at Arlington National Cemetery, a commemorative postage stamp, and full inclusion in the National Museum of American History. Each effort resulted in failure, which does not mean efforts to secure recognition have ceased. Cramer assumes that if the country knew of the patriotic crime being committed against some of its most loyal denizens, surely a remedy would emerge. Hence the piece in Parade Magazine calling attention to this sorry state of affairs and detailing the heroics of an underappreciated band of brothers – dogs, the dogs we send to war to serve and die on our behalf.

Cramer's reproach, whatever its merits, neglected recent memorial developments. One example: on July 21, 1994, the fiftieth anniversary of Guam's invasion, the Marine War Dog Memorial was unveiled at the United States Marine Corps War Dog Cemetery on the island.