T oday is March 13th ~ K9 Veterans Day ! A time to thank our many working dogs and their handlers—from military to police—who are now veterans. As the daughter of a WWII U.S. Army veteran, I'm honored to celebrate the work these amazing K9 soldiers do each year by writing about them and sharing important news and links. March 13th was the date in 1942 when an experimental program of enlisting dogs into service was approved. According to the United States Army, "In January 1942, members of the American Kennel Club and other dog lovers formed a civilian organization called Dogs for Defense . They intended to train dogs to perform sentry duty for the army along the coast of the United States. Aware of this effort, Lieutenant Colonel Clifford C. Smith, chief of the Plant Protection Branch, Inspection Division, Quartermaster Corps, met with his commander, Major General Edmund B. Gregory, and suggested that the Army use the sentry dogs at supply depots. Gr...