Today I had the privilege of attending the memorial service for MWD “Buddy” E154. What an honor to pay my respects to this retired canine veteran. I am so thankful to all the men, women and canines who serve this country selflessly, never wavering from their duty to protect this great nation and protect all of our rights and privileges.
I was made aware of this service through a friend who posted a link to the Michigan War Dog Memorial. I grew up in the area where this cemetery is located and it had become very over grown to the point you could hardly see the large monument. Restorations began in 2010 and now it is a very beautiful resting place for the more than 600 pets interred there according to Phil Weitlauf Director – US Army Veteran. Restoration is still in progress but as you can see by the photo it is really beautiful.
Buddy, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, was a TSA explosive detection K9. He was adopted by Tracy Spader in 2010 after his retirement and spent the last years of his life being loved as a family member and learning to just have fun. Buddy left this world on December 29, 2012 after his battle with cancer.
Buddy was buried with full military honors and the out pouring of people and dogs that arrived to pay their respects was overwhelming.
Several of the dogs sang their song for Buddy!
I was honored to have met Tracy today and will never forget this wonderful memorial honoring this great dog!
Rest Softly Buddy
Misty Shores Chesapeakes 
What a wonderful experience to be a part of honoring Buddy. I know you’ll treasure this memory.
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It truly was a wonderful experience Sage.
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Wow! It makes my heart happy that these beautiful creatures are honoured and remembered. And that their friends sang a song for him {that one brought tears to my eyes}.
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It was quite a wonderful experience!
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Tina, that was a wonderful tribute to Buddy, thank you for attending and being able to share that with others. I cried all the way through it, what great videos. I love the shepherds howling and saying their goodbyes. What a great place to have for our veteran dogs. God bless the military dogs and their owners along with the owners during their retirement. Bless Tracy for giving him a great end of life.
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Thank you and it was my pleasure. I was in awe at the wonderful job they did and the out pouring of people and dogs that came to pay their last respects to Buddy. Tracy is very nice and I am so grateful to her for allowing me take all the pictures I wanted, she wants to get the word out there about these dogs and the MWD site.
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Reblogged this on Sand Spring Chesapeakes and commented:
This was way to special had to reblog.
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Thanks JoAnn for helping to spread the word 🙂
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So awesome that Buddy was honored in this way. RIP Buddy.
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It was truly amazing!
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I have some tears in my eyes now, what a great tribute to a great dog. Thanks for this wonderful and touching post .
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It was my pleasure and honor to do this post, I’m glad you liked it.
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Wow! A true American hero and the collies and I all stand a salute Buddy!
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🙂
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It was nice of you to go and honor Buddy. Looks like it was a beautiful ceremony.
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It was unbelievable and a privilege to attend. I have another article in the works about it with a lot more detail.
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I’d never known about Military Cemetaries for War Dogs or the Support Military Working dogs Project…Thank you for sharing
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Gizmo it is my pleasure to get the word out there!
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