Author shares story of America’s abandoned war dogs

Author Rachel Reed joined Wednesday’s “The Morning Blaze with Doc Thompson” to talk about her new book, “K-9 Korea: The Untold Story of America's War Dogs in the Korean War.”

An Air Force veteran and dog lover, Reed shared the story of the sentry dogs who served during the Korean War alongside American soldiers. The U.S. military brought in around 200 dogs to help guard ammunition storage facilities and the parameter of the post, and they were loyal companions to the men of the 8125th Sentry Dog Detachment.

Reed talked about how she stumbled upon the unique story and was inspired to write the book. She wanted to write about the “forgotten war” and the important role that dogs played:

“I had been taking some oral histories from veterans, and I had come across a story from a veteran who had served in WWII and he had served with a dog. And it got me really thinking about the role that dogs play in soldiers’ lives, especially in wartime, and so I started researching, and that’s when I came across a little blurb about these men in a small Colorado newspaper. … I found their story to be absolutely incredible.”

Tragically, the dogs of “K-9” served their part in Korea only to be deserted after the war, leaving a company of soldiers who wondered for the rest of their lives what happened to their canine companions. As Reed noted:

“The military ended up abandoning these dogs that they had served with so proudly, so bravely. [The men] were heartbroken about that, and the world didn’t seem to care.”

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