Barrington War Dog Memorial

Dedicated on 22 June, 2022, 2pm by the American Legion Post 114 of Barrington, NH. /
Sculptor: Stephen Roy
“In memory of those war dogs who were truly man’s best friend.”
Sincerely, John S Dow
Son of John T Dow, 212th Det T ’66/67
Barrington, NH

By Stony Burk
While sorting through some photos for Veterans Day to post on Facebook I came across a photo of the War
Dog Memorial that I took a few years ago which then led me on my continued search for another photo. The search led me to your VDHA page and the Barrington, NH site.

In 2015, while I was still living and working in New Hampshire, I was being treated at the Boston VA Hospital for prostate cancer and driving back and forth each day for treatment. During that time, I struck up a conversation with another patient in the waiting room and found out he was a Vietnam dog handler. It was my understanding he was one of the first to take dogs to Vietnam. As our conversations continued over those days, I found out he was from the nearby town of Somersworth, adjacent to Rochester where I resided. Although he and his wife had long ago moved to Kensington on Prince Edward Island, Canada, his son and family still lived in Somersworth. His name was Scott Maclin.

During our conversations I mentioned that I visited the War Dog Memorial in the nearby town of Barrington. He told me he had worked with the American Legion to put the memorial together and that a Stephen Roy had donated the granite memorial. I told him Stephen and his wife Donna were longtime friends of mine and I had hiked with Stephen as well as worked with him on several projects around the area. He is the owner of Stephen Roy Monument Company in Rochester.

Scott completed his treatments before I did and he and his wife, Cheryl, left to visit his son before heading back to P.E.I. It was a bit later when I stopped by the Memorial again when I noticed the entrance sign was in poor shape and deteriorating. I contacted Scott and asked if he was okay with me providing a replacement sign and got his blessing. I also contacted the Barrington Fire Department, Cemetery Commission and American Legion with a proposal and sketch. It took a while, but I got the approvals and was able to replace the sign.

As mentioned, Stephen Roy, provided the monument so the sculptor that is listed on your page as
“Unknown” can now be updated. There is a local artist that volunteered to repaint the statue when needed, however I don’t have her name. I’m sure the American Legion of Fire Chief would know if you needed that info.

If you know where I could find a copy of the 8.5″ x 11″ black-and-white photo of the War Dog at the Wall with the ‘Where’s My Name?’ tag line, I would certainly appreciate it. The one that was there deteriorated in the weather and I would like to replace it with a permanent weatherproof image. I’m retired now and
have moved back to East Texas but will have the guys at the sign shop in NH where I worked install it.

Thank you for your time and thank you and your dogs for your service.

Stony Burk