Streamwood Sculptor: Anthony Quickle Dedicated: 05/27/2001 DOGMAN - VOLUME 8 - NUMBER 4 - August 2001
War Dog Memorial Dedicated in Illinois Sculpture has ‘Heart’ by Carl Adams
In spite of the imminent threat of rain, more then 1,200 veterans, families, friends and local citizens arrived at the Streamwood Memorial Park in Streamwood, Ill., to pay honor to our fallen brothers and sisters and to witness the unveiling of the nation’s newest Military War Dog Memorial.
An idea that was started by Jennifer Pfannkuche, a local high school girl, was about to become a reality. Jennifer had made a suggestion for the memorial to her father, the commander of VFW Post 5151, after seeing the documentary on the Discovery Channel. He, in turn, asked volunteers to work on the project.
Jose Palacios, an Airborne Vietnam veteran and vice-chairman of the Streamwood Veterans Commission, stepped forward. He recruited Carolyn Pentecost, a local veterans supporter, and created the War Dog Memorial Subcommittee. With the support of the City of Streamwood, the project was underway.
Anthony Quickle was selected from a number of potential sculptors to create the memorial. A soldier kneeling next to his German shepherd, depicting the bond between dog and handler. Unlike the tin man in the Wizard of Oz, this metal creation had a heart from the beginning. An Air Force veteran, Quickle did not approach the creation of the sculpture as just another commission. He had created sculptures for the retiring president of the Florida Phosphate Council; The International Mining Corporation in Australia; and smaller commissions for the President of Florida State University and the Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. This was all good, but Streamwood’s War Dog Memorial was different. He really wanted to do this. Once he was awarded the project, he put his heart into every aspect of its creation.
Jose Palacios, felt as strongly. He credits his life being saved in the central highlands of Vietnam when a potential ambush was avoided by an Army scout dog team. He put his heart into the project. Carolyn Pentecost was twice widowed by the war in Vietnam. Her first husband was KIA. Her second died from the longterm effects of Agent Orange. One would think that someone who had experienced such losses would not have any heart left, but you would be wrong. Carolyn had much more to give, and so she put her heart into the project. Literally thousands of letters asking for support were sent. Fund-raising events were planned and carried out. VFW Post 5151 donated $11,000 to the project.
In spite of all the hard work, the memorial was not fully funded when the time came to send the plaster sculpture to the foundry. But the Memorial Committee gave the green light anyway, and the memorial was cast. There was too much heart in the memorial to stop the process. The money would eventually come. (As of this writing, the memorial is still not fully paid for.) And so, on a Memorial Day weekend morning in a park dedicated to all who had ever fought and died for our country, a bronze statue sat draped by a yellow tarp, ready to take its place of honor.
A special section of reserved seats directly in front of the podium were set aside for the handlers in attendance. The Lima Lima precision flying team put on a 20-minute demonstration. Flying much slower prop-driven T-34 trainers, they duplicated many of the maneuvers performed by the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds. The low clouds prevented the team from performing many of their planned routine, but the crowd oohed and awed with each pass and were visibly moved when they performed the missing man formation.
The Society of the 173rd Airborne Brigade performed the Table Ceremony. A table on the stage was set for five, representing the five branches of the service to symbolize the service members commonly called POW/MIA’s. Twelve hundred people stood in complete silence as the 173rd placed the service hat of each branch on the table in front of each empty chair. Five color guards, representing each branch of the service, marched into the park led by a single piper. A color guard carrying the POW flag joined the procession. A Vietnamese color guard from the Vietnamese Association of DuPage County entered the park carrying the flag of South Vietnam. As the hymn of each branch was sung by the U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command Choir, the service flag was raised on its flagpole. As the POW flag was raised, the air was filled with the haunting sound of the bagpipes playing Amazing Grace. Lastly, the American flag was raised on the tallest pole located in the middle of the circle of service flags as USNR Commander Kathryn M. Servin sang the National Anthem. Taps was sounded. Immediately behind the procession of color guards, 40 K-9 teams from police departments from Chicago and the surrounding communities and neighboring states filed into the park and stood at the edge of the grounds. A 21- gun salute broke the quiet of the moment and all of the police K9 dogs started barking.
It was perfect. USCG Lt. Commander Willie Necker, 93, was introduced to the crowd. He was one of the original trainers of the dogs used in World War II. Necker’s training methods were passed down over the years and are the basis of the training we received. Lt. Commander Necker is one of the fathers of the modern MWD’s. The handlers gave him a standing ovation. He spoke of his pride in being K-9 and his great pleasure in seeing the MWD’s get the recognition they have so long deserved. City officials made speeches. Congressman Henry Hyde addressed the crowd. VDHA Vice-President Bob Samara made a stiring speech introducing our president, John Burnam, who made an emotional speech honoring the dogs and their handlers from every war. Anthony Quickle talked about the creation of the memorial and what it meant to him as the sculptor and as a veteran. The handlers in attendance were introduced and Lt. Commander Necker was led to a seat of honor directly in front of the memorial.
A light rain periodically interrupted the proceedings, but no one ran for cover or headed for their cars. Billie D. Roth, president of the Village of Streamwood, Jose Palacios and Carolyn Pentecost pulled the yellow tarp from the statue. Lt. Commander Necker placed three red carnations at the statue’s base. A poem written by Carolyn Pentecost had been chiseled in the marble base. It read:
In Loving Memory You were there to watch for the enemy You were there to lead us. You were there to love and comfort us, You were there to die for us, and you did. You were our friend, our comrade, our family But most of all, you were there to serve. With courage, dignity, and pride. Aways, you will remain in our hearts As a lasting tribute to unconditional love And service to your country. War Dogs, we salute you!
Jennifer Pfannkuche, Jose Palacios and Carolyn Pentecost placed a wreath with a simple banner that read “War Dogs” on one side of the memorial. The VietNow organization conducted a ceremony in front of the statue. A rifle was inspected, its clip removed and its bayonet stuck into the ground, never to be fired again. A blank set of dog tags, symbolizing the dog tags of our fallen brothers were attached to the rifle, never to be worn again. A helmet was inspected and placed on the butt of the rifle, never to be worn again. A second helmet was inspected and placed upside-down on the ground in front of the rifle, symbolizing the helmet our dogs drank and ate from, never to be used again. A harness was inspected and placed in the helmet, never to be on point again.
One by one, the handlers came forward to add their flowers. Some left pictures of themselves with their dogs. Immediately behind the veterans, single file, the 40 K- 9 teams approached the memorial. Some placed their flowers and saluted. Others put their dog in the down position at the memorial’s base. Others placed the flower in their dog’s mouth and allowed their dog to place the carnation at the feet of their bronze likeness. With the placing of the last carnation by the last K-9 team, the rains came. No longer a gentle sprinkle, but a first class Midwest downpour, complete with peanut size hail. No one ran. The family’s friends and citizens of Streamwood came forward and placed flowers. Someone left a milk bone.
By now, we were soaked, but no one seemed to care. There were big smiles all around. Handlers hugged each other and the civilian K-9 handlers stood to shake the hands of the combat veterans. Lt. Commander Necker, rain dripping from the brim of his officer’s hat, smiled and shook hands with veterans and the citizens of Streamwood. The dream of a high school girl, the vision of a sculptor, the hard work of Carolyn and Jose and many others and the support of the City of Streamwood had produced the fourth war dog memorial. The statue with heart.
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DOGMAN - VOLUME 8 - NUMBER 2 - April 2001 Monument dedication May 27,2001, in Illinois Supporters invited to major fund-raiser
A major auction fund-raiser will be held April 28 to help pay for a new war dog memorial, which will be the first one in the Midwest. Supporters plan to dedicate the memorialwhich will include a bronze sculpture by artist Anthony Quickleon Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, May 27, in Streamwood, Ill.
The drive for the new memorial was inspired in 1999 when the daughter of a member of the Streamwood VFW post asked her father why there was no tribute to the war dogs that served in Vietnam. That young woman, Jennifer Pfannkuche, had watched spellbound the television film, War Dogs: Americas Forgotten Heroes.Her father, Ed Pfannkuche, turned the question over to the vice chairman of the Veterans Commission, a Vietnam veteran named Jose Palacios.
It was an apt assignment for Palacios, because his life and the lives of several members of his platoon had been saved during the war by a scout dog handler and his dog, who were killed in the act of saving the other men. The dog alerted just before the platoon was to enter a horseshoe-shaped ambush, Palacios recalled. Platoon members dove for cover on the dogs warning, but the handler and his dog at the point were both killed when the enemy fired on them after realizing the ambush had been discovered.
Palacios, with Carolyn Pentecost as his co-chair, heads the committee of volunteers working to place the war dog sculpture in Streamwoods Memorial Park. The volunteers include VDHA member Steve Glab, who is extending a special invitation to VDHA members to attend the fund-raiser and subsequent dedication. Pentecost and Glab provided information to DOGMAN to encourage participation by VDHA members. We would be deeply, deeply honored to have as many dog handlers as possible present at the unveiling, because it is their day, Pentecost said. It is them, and their brave soldier-comrade dogs that we salute and honor.
Pentecost said a special place will be set aside for honored guests near the statue before the unveiling and dedication. We also hope to have John O'Donnell speak, and perhaps another handler, as well as K-9 demonstrations from the surrounding law enforcement and/or military agencies, she said. Glab said speakers would be especially welcome from the VDHA. Pentecost, who also is a member of VDHA, said she hopes former dog handlers will be among those who will attend the auction fund-raiser as well, where they will receive special recognition.
The auction will be 5 p.m. to midnight April 28 at the Streamwood Community Center, 777 S. Bartlett Rd. The admission charges of $20 in advance and $25 at the door will include food and live entertainment. Advance tickets are available at Streamwood Village Hall, 301 E. Irving Park Rd. in Streamwood, telephone number 630-837-0200, ext. 339. Pentecost and Palacios can be contacted with offers of assistance and to answer questions at 630-837-3389 and at 630-830-3724, respectively. Pentecost said numerous items have been donated for the auction, including many autographed items from celebrities in film, TV, athletics, politics, music, artists, cartoonists, and authors. Other items on the auction block include a seven-day cruise for two to the Caribbean or Mexico, Irish crystal, porcelain items, a Victorian doll, etc. The statues cost is $50,000, and about $12,000 already has been raised. |