War dog memorial suggestedMayor pro tem against canine capering at Waterfront Park, but Vietnam vet speaks in favor By Prentiss Findlay (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Thursday, August 7, 2008
MOUNT PLEASANT — The town's new $14 million Memorial Waterfront Park should include a tribute to the war-time role of military dogs, but a canine park is best located elsewhere, Mayor Pro Tem Kruger Smith said Tuesday. 
The Post and Courier "Those war dogs saved an awful lot of lives. They were as good as two machine guns," Smith said. Dog park supporters such as Pete Peters said a place for dogs to exercise and socialize is a good idea for the 19-acre first phase of Waterfront Park. Peters, a Vietnam veteran, was a military dog handler in the Army 173rd Airborne Brigade in 1966-67. More than 4,000 German shepherds were used to detect booby traps, bombs and snipers, he said. Peters said his military dog, Prince, sniffed out a huge weapons cache intended for the Viet Cong Tet Offensive. 
Mic Smith Pete Peters plays with his German shepherd Rhett at his Edisto Island home Tuesday. Peters, a dog handler during the Vietnam War, is hoping for a dog park at Memorial Waterfront Park in Mount Pleasant. "That one dog could have saved hundreds of lives," he said. "The whole concept of dogs being used over there was kind of kept quiet because in the end the dogs were not brought back," Peters said. About half of them were euthanized. The rest were given to the South Vietnamese Army, he said. Military dogs are at work in Iraq and Afghanistan detecting enemy roadside bombs, he said. Peters, of Edisto Island, is a sergeant major in the South Carolina State Guard Third Brigade, which drills at the Mount Pleasant National Guard Armory. The park centerpiece will be a $400,000 War Memorial featuring an 8-foot-tall bronze female sculpture. In the woman's left hand is a tri-folded flag presented to grieving widows and mothers. Her right hand rests upon a World War II helmet, supported by a rifle. War dead from east of the Cooper will be remembered on a wall over a fountain that will be part of the memorial. At its last meeting, a council majority rejected a town staff-proposed location for a 1-acre dog park in the shadows of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge. Smith said that he found the dog park location offensive because excrement would be in the vicinity of the veterans' tribute. He said town property on Whipple Road is more suitable for a dog park. Previous storiesHallman favors corporate retreat over dog park, published 02/24/08 Dog owners press case for pooch park, published 06/11/08 Councilman Gary Santos strongly advocates a Waterfront Park dog park. Santos, Council Recreation Committee chairman, has placed the dog park issue on the committee agenda for its meeting at 8:30 a.m. today. "We need to do this. We asked their opinion and they told us. It was one of the highest priorities," he said. The park will be constructed in two phases. The future of the remaining 4.5 acres that is the second phase is undetermined. Park design charettes suggested a dog park in the second phase. Green space proponents have said they fear that the council will develop the area instead. Ideas such as a corporate meeting center or a performance venue have been floated, but nothing has been decided. The town would have to buy the 4.5 acres from the state Department of Transportation to develop it because the DOT gave the land to the town with the stipulation that it be used for a park. The park, located next to the Ravenel Bridge, will have a 1,250-foot-long pier that the state DOT built atop lopped-off pilings of the Silas Pearman Bridge and an 8,100-square-foot covered pavilion at the end of the pier. It also will feature a 1,400-square-foot open-air Sweetgrass Pavilion and a 6,200-square-foot Visitors Center. The town is paying for park construction through its tax increment financing program, the same method it used to recently buy its $6 million property on Shem Creek. The tax increment financing method borrows funds for improvements that are expected to increase property values, thereby generating more taxes to pay back the debt. Reach Prentiss Findlay at 937-5711 or pfindlay@postand courier.com. |
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Comments
This article has 15 comment(s)
Posted by stand828 on August 7, 2008 at 4:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ah, a memorial is a great idea, but it seems Mr. Smith wants to have it both ways. I think we should have a dog park and a dog memorial at the Waterfront Park, and tell Mr. Smith to go to hell.
Posted by wpc3iop on August 7, 2008 at 6:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The Mt. Pleasant "doggie poop" saga continues...doesn't the council have more important matters to attend to? How about doing something about the out of control MT. Pleasant PD REOs (revenue enhancement officers)...that would make my wife happy!
Posted by disco on August 7, 2008 at 8:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Why not have both? I don't understand why this is such a big deal....
Posted by Thomas1776 on August 7, 2008 at 8:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Kibbles and Bits. *chuckles*
Posted by ColdBeer on August 7, 2008 at 8:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
He said "booby". Heh... heh...
Posted by southerngrace on August 7, 2008 at 8:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I am sick and tired of our so called town leaders, Smith/Hallman, telling us what is best for us ....it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know you don't need 19 acres for a dog park ...maybe 1 for larger dogs and 1/2 for the small ones ...how hard it that ...and do not worry about the excrement...dog owners are pretty good about picking up the poo and reminding others...i will remember who said what at election time ...and i never did vote for Hallman, the idiot
Posted by RTC on August 7, 2008 at 9:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The problem with putting one on Whipple Rd. would be with the parking. I am assuming that they are talking about putting a dog park under the power lines, as I don't see where else it could go. People would be parking on the street inside of some of the subdivisions, and then all hell will break loose. If they put it on the field near the tennis courts, then the soccer players will get mad.
It doesn't matter where they put the dog park, because someone is going to get upset.
Palmetto Islands has a great dog park, and even if you don't have a season pass it only cost a buck a person to get inside. The dogs are free. :)
Posted by grannyofsix on August 7, 2008 at 9:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If one does happen why not have it for all service Dogs.
Sometimes they are also killed in the line of duty as well.
Posted by ColdBeer on August 7, 2008 at 9:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I visited a castle in Edinburgh, Scotland that had a cemetary for the guard's dogs. The guards were similar to the guards in London, except they wore kilts and we're quite as stoic. The dog cemetary was kind of cool. Each grave had a head stone with comments about the dog.
Posted by NakedYoga on August 7, 2008 at 10:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
A memorial for dogs? Give me a break. No one disputes they were important, but really... a memorial?
19 acres seems pretty excessive for a dog park, too. Of course, it's Mt. Pleasant, so they need to cater to the lab-and-golden retriever crowd...
Posted by willbillbedamned on August 7, 2008 at 10:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
nakedyoga, you have NO idea how many soldiers lives those dogs saved. I worked with them in Korea and then back in the States, while in the U.S.A.F. They served honorably, often risking their lives to save the handler. I really can't express how upset I am with your comment. I realize it comes from ignorance. A great man once said something along the line of, "It is better to be quiet and be thought a fool, than to speak and confirm it".
Posted by RTC on August 7, 2008 at 1:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Another of course it's Mt. Pleasant remark.
I guess only people in Mt.P have labs and Golden retrievers.
Posted by disco on August 7, 2008 at 2:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"A memorial for dogs? Give me a break. No one disputes they were important, but really... a memorial?"
Dogs are important, not were important. Not only are they an asset to soldiers, police, firemen, rescue workers, the blind, the deaf, the sick, I could go on and on, but they are great companions too. Why not recognize them for all the good they do and give them a memorial and a place to play.
Posted by charleston_grown on August 7, 2008 at 6:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
nakedyoga, why don't you chill out and go practice some of your yoga. your bitterness and jealousy oozes out of the words you type. Life is to be enjoyed, quit hating or you will be miserable. There is no reason why there shouldn't be a dog park there.
Posted by olroofer on August 7, 2008 at 8:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
HOLY TREE HUGGIN' CRAP! Take some of that money and invest it into some oil wells or something ((PRODUCTIVE))!! I just gave $35 to the troopers association for an officer killed in duty, for his family. I think the dogs will understand. Okay I'm done....