Nemo A534
Nemo A534 was a sentry dog during the Vietnam War. He was stationed at Tan Son Nhut Air Base when it was attacked by a large Viet Cong force on December 3rd, 1966. Sentries and their dogs were able to alert the base of the approaching Viet Cong and it was believed that by the following morning, all of the attacking Viet Cong were killed or captured. During the first assault, one handler and three sentry dogs were killed while on patrol to find the Viet Cong who were waiting in the dark. The attack was stopped thanks to the alerts of the dogs.
When daylight came sentries went out once again but during the day sentries did not venture out with their dogs. So despite several scans of the area, there were no Viet Cong found. When darkness fell Nemo A534 and his handler, Airman Robert Throneburg set out on their patrol. As they walked through the dark Nemo alerted his handler of hidden Viet Cong. Throneburg set Nemo after them and followed. Both Nemo and his Throneburg were wounded with Nemo losing an eye and being shot in the face. Throneburg was also shot twice. Nemo knowing that there were still Viet Cong in the area laid on the body of his handler and fiercely protected him until help could arrive. Both Nemo and Throneburg survived the ordeal and Nemo was granted early retirement. He was one of the few dogs from the Vietnam War that was given passage home.
He lived out his days at the Lackland Air Force Base where he was given a permanent retirement kennel. He was often used as a recruiting dog to help get men and dogs to join the military. He died in 1972 at the age of 11 and a memorial kennel and stone remain at Lackland Air Force Base in his honor.