Military Working Dog Teams National Monument in San Antonio, TX
Galatians 5:13 NLT
Serve one another in love.
Not Forgotten Fountain is part of the Military Working Dog Teams National Monument in San Antonio, TX. This fully functional fountain can provide visiting canines a cool drink on a hot Texas day while serving as a reminder of the loyalty and service provided by military dogs left in Vietnam. According to Stars and Stripes, “More than 4,000 dogs were trained for scouting, tracking, sentry duty, mine/tunnel detection and water patrols during the Vietnam War. The dogs are believed to have prevented about 10,000 service members from dying.” Over 500 of the dogs were listed as killed in action. Yet, at the close of operations, only 204 of those dogs were brought home to the United States. At least 2,000 dogs were euthanized, the rest abandoned. Laws are now in place to prevent this from happening again, but these dogs are an incredible example of, “serve one another in love.” In the face of battle, these dogs were free to run the other way, keep going, and never stop. Only the pure unconditional love they felt toward their handlers kept them rooted in harm’s way. The pure and unconditional love Jesus has for us had him washing his disciple’s feet, hanging out with the unaccepted, and kept him nailed to a cross as the ultimate example of love. For us, most simple acts of service to show love to our neighbors – our community – aren’t quite so drastic! Therefore, shouldn’t we be all the more inclined to serve?
