5/2/13 - The Michigan War Dogs Memorial will hold its second full-honors funeral service this weekend for a bomb-sniffing dog who served in Afghanistan. Mina, a black Labrador retriever, earned the rank of sergeant through nine tours of duty before his honorable discharge from the US Army. He died recently at the age of 13, and will be interred on Sunday at the Michigan War Dogs Memorial in Lyon Township. The organization is a nonprofit that provides presentations and seminars to educate the public on the role dogs have played in the United States military. The organization started in 2010 when Phil Weitlauf, who is now president of Michigan War Dogs Memorial Incorporated, discovered a monument dedicated to the service dogs of World Wars One and Two located in a pet cemetery. The monument was completely overgrown, but with the help of volunteers from Livingston, Washtenaw, and Oakland Counties it is being restored. The service will include a flag line and taps, but in lieu of a 21-gun salute a chorus of trained dogs will howl on command. The public is invited to attend the ceremony, which will take place at 2:00pm on Sunday. For more information, follow the link below. (TD)
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