Veteran and Military Working Dog Honored for #StillServing

Livermore resident Michael Hurder and his Vietnam war dog, Prince, are being recognized for their service to country and community in the national Veterans of Foreign Wars #StillServing campaign honoring veterans who continue to serve after the military. In conjunction with September’s National Service Dog Month, the veterans honored are those who work or worked with a canine companion.

Hurder served in Vietnam with his German Shepherd partner, Prince, whom Hurder describes as his lifeline who never stopped serving. Hurder says his last day in Vietnam is one he thinks of often, the last face he saw there being Prince’s. Prince was one of the 3,796 dogs left behind in Vietnam, euthanized at the age of seven in August 1976 after having served his country.

Today Hurder honors Prince’s memory through volunteer work with the Vietnam Dog Handler Association, Military Working Dog Team Support Association and the Military Working Dog Heritage Museum. He has dogs who are pets and describes them as equally devoted to keeping him grounded and alive as Prince was. The photo collection of his time in Vietnam was lost along with most of his memorabilia during the two-week period of hospital and psychiatric ward stays on his way home from Vietnam, so the photo below is the only known image of Prince.

In 2019, on the forty-third anniversary of Prince’s passing, Hurder wrote a tribute to him. Following is a passage from it.

“As fierce a guardian as you were, you were still my big old cuddly Prince who loved to frolic and would belly crawl a mile to play with or comfort a child. Your tenacity through the terrible, horrible carnage of the battlefield saved two little ones, despite our best efforts to close our eyes. By saving them, you once again saved me. We lived the mission to its fullest and protected the innocent; not through my intrepid determination, but through yours.”

VFW invites all veterans to submit their #StillServing stories at vfw.org/stillserving.