WASHBURN, Maine — Thousands of military members served at Loring Air Force Base over its nearly 40 years. But they weren’t all human.
Nearly 100 sentry and patrol dogs protected the base with their handlers. A nearby Aroostook town plans to honor the canines in its own steadily growing veterans park.
About 14 of the dogs are buried at the former base’s Sentry Dog Cemetery. The site now belongs to Green 4 Maine, a Lewiston developer working to attract industry to Limestone, and has been in disrepair. Now, Washburn Rotarians plan to install a permanent monument where all the watchdogs of Loring will be remembered.
“They were veterans of the U.S. military, just like the two-legged veterans are,” said Larry Harrison, a retired Air Force master sergeant and the project organizer. “I spent 16 of my 20 years at Loring and I met quite a few of these dogs. They just need to be honored.”
The $9,700 installation will include a life-size bronze German Shepherd statue and a pathway of bricks with names of the dogs and their handlers.
The airmen and canines were part of the base’s security and police squad from 1956 until it closed in 1994, Harrison said. The dogs helped guard airplanes, bunkers and other important sites, often at nighttime. Later on, they became patrol dogs, which were also trained to examine incoming vehicles.
Loring’s Sentry Dog Cemetery occupies a small, fenced-in area in an obscure clearing near the Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge.
In 2014, Presque Isle Scout David Cyr undertook renovations at the cemetery as his Eagle Scout Service Project, Maine Public reported.
But Cyr’s project, like other refurbishments, did not last.
Recent winds and winter storms also wreaked havoc there and tore the fence down, according to Loring Military Heritage Society and Loring Air Museum member Cuppy Johndro. The society plans to repair the cemetery and has secured a 99-year lease from Green 4 Maine for the property, she said.
“The dogs at Loring will be honored in the same manner in which they’ve always been before,” Johndro said. “The museum has been raising money via T-shirt sales and other ways to secure brand new fencing and new signage.”
Johndro and life members of the heritage group are working now on fixing the fence, she said.
Still, the Washburn group wants to pay tribute to all the dogs that served, not just those in the cemetery, Harrison said, adding vandalism has plagued the space and even a wooden dog statue placed there was destroyed.
“Really, there’s no secure place to put a monument over there [at Loring]. And it only honors those dogs that were buried there, that passed during their service,” he said. “The other 80 or so canines went with their handlers. They all need to be honored because they were veterans and they served the country.”
David Priest of Lincoln was one of the handlers. His canine partner, Skeeze, will be memorialized on one of the bricks. Skeeze was his third dog at the base.
Priest arrived at Loring in September 1968 in the middle of the night on a cargo plane, he said. His sentry dog King was with him.
Priest transferred to Korat Royal Thai Air Force base for a year, then came back to Loring in 1970, when he was assigned another dog, Dirk. He swapped Dirk for Skeeze in 1971 during a trip to Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, he said. Skeeze was with him until Priest was discharged in 1972.
He’s glad to know the dogs will be remembered.
“I doubt if anyone on base other than security police and a few people around the flight line knew these noble beasts worked every night from sunset to sunrise,” he said. “If we don’t remember them, no one will. I spent more time with my dogs during my Air Force career than people.”
Harrison said he hopes to invite Priest to the monument dedication this summer.
In past years, scouts and Rotarians have added numerous elements to what started out as a small spot in the town center. Now, Washburn’s Veterans Memorial Park includes flags for each military branch, a bronze battle cross, a monument honoring local Medal of Honor recipient Edward Dahlgren and a brick walkway with 326 engraved stones so far.
Rotarians want to unveil the new project at the town’s August Festival, Harrison said. Costs include $3,000 for the statue, $4,000 for 100 4-x-8-inch bricks, $1,000 for mounting and groundwork, $900 for an information board detailing Loring’s sentry dog history and $800 for a bronze plaque at the monument.
Bricks cost $40 each. The Rotary Club is accepting donations for the canine monument as well as for the veterans walkway. For information, contact Harrison at 207-455-4074 or 207-316-4165.
For Harrison, it’s a worthy cause for a town that has always come together to remember veterans.
“I think our little park in Washburn is a showplace,” he said. “And what better place to put it than there?”
