County gives $2,000 to war dog memorial

Posted 12/8/16

On a 3-2 vote on Tuesday, the Park County Commission decided to contribute to a roughly $110,000 fundraising campaign to add a “war dog” memorial to the State of Wyoming Veterans Memorial Park, located along the Greybull Highway.

“It’s a …

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County gives $2,000 to war dog memorial

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Park County is chipping in $2,000 toward a Cody memorial that will honor dogs and dog handlers who have served in the U.S. Military.

On a 3-2 vote on Tuesday, the Park County Commission decided to contribute to a roughly $110,000 fundraising campaign to add a “war dog” memorial to the State of Wyoming Veterans Memorial Park, located along the Greybull Highway.

“It’s a great addition to our community,” Commissioner Joe Tilden said of the park. “There are people that come from all over our state just to see that ... and I think it’s something we should support.”

Buck Wilkerson of Cody is helping lead the fundraising effort. In his pitch to commissioners last month, he noted the lifesaving work that military K-9s have performed over the decades — from sniffing out bombs to serving as sentries.

The push to add a memorial for war dogs (which will join memorials for veterans killed in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War and more modern conflicts) was inspired by a military K-9 named Michael, who was killed in rural Powell last year.

The 9-year-old Belgian Malinois earned the rank of major for his bomb-detection work in Iraq while being handled by Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Bessler of Powell. “Major Mike” was shot and killed by a bicyclist in October 2015; the Park County Sheriff’s Office concluded the cyclist had acted in self-defense.

“This incident has prompted a serious review and look around the country to what we could do to recognize the war dogs. And, of course, the critical aspect of the war dog is the handler,” Wilkerson told commissioners last month.

Initial plans for the memorial called for just a bronze sculpture of a dog modeled off of Mike. But Wilkerson said former Texas Gov. Rick Perry — who’s helped support Bessler and other veterans — advised that, “You’ve got to include the handler.”

“As we’ve thought about it, it makes all the sense in the world,” Wilkerson said.

As of last month, around $25,000 had been raised; Wilkerson said on Nov. 15 that they needed “another $45,000 about as fast as I can get it” so work can continue to move forward.

Wilkerson welcomed the county’s $2,000 contribution on Tuesday.

“We appreciate it all,” he said.

The county previously gave $5,000 to the Koren War memorial and $10,000 to a monument for fallen World War II soldiers.

“Times are much tighter now,” said Commission Chairman Tim French, before casting the deciding vote in favor of the war dog memorial donation. French added that, “normally we probably would have went with $5,000 or whatever.”

Commissioners Bucky Hall and Tilden also supported the contribution, while commissioners Lee Livingston and Loren Grosskopf voted no.

“While I think this is a

worthy project — and it’d probably be a great addition to the memorial park out there — with the way we are right now with funding, I think this would probably be more appropriate to have privately funded than to have the county contribute at this time,” Livingston said.

Tilden argued that $2,000 isn’t that much money in the overall scheme of things, “especially when we had to throw $1,000 down the drain for a useless recount.”

(He was referring to the added cost of a recount demanded by Cindy Baldwin, an independent candidate for Senate District 18, which confirmed her more than 1,400-vote loss to Sen. Hank Coe, R-Cody.)

Wilkerson said the war dog memorial will be the second-to-last addition to the veterans memorial park. One more planned installation will be designed to specifically honor the women who’ve served in the armed forces, Wilkerson said.

After eight years of work on the park, “I’m hoping we get it done before I go toes up,” he said. “And we will.”

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