From the movie "In the Pursuit of Honor", 1995.
 

I learned today, thanks to Hollywood, that what happened to our dogs has precedent.  In the early 30's there were two events happening concurrently that led the then War Department to commit the same, shameful, unforgivable act they did to our dogs.

The time was the Great Depression; military budgets were being slashed.  It was also the time when mechanized warfare was beginning.  Machines, not horses were the future of the military.  General Douglas MacArthur ordered all Calvary re-mounts be sent to the Senora Desert and disposed of.  Sound familiar?

Of course there are those who would see that it made perfect economic and logical sense.  But we're not all nameless government bureaucrats able to make decisions without accountability either to those we're supposed to serve or to a bothersome little thing like humanity. 

And, on the other side, there are those of us who loved those animals.  Generations of now old men a bit bitter and twisted over the actions of a government without human feelings.  A government with all the resources that it could bring to bear, that chose the regrettable option of taking animals who served honorably, asking nothing more than food and attention, in what amounts to "out behind the barracks and shooting them".   And I'd like to think there are many others out there, who've heard our stories, heard of our losses, and share in our grief.  Share in our inability to understand even 30+ years later why no other more humane solution could be found. 

I served in the US Navy, I am proud of that fact.  I was a Sentry Dog handler, I'm proud of that, too.  But I continue to be saddened by the choices of those who can decide on the fate of warm blooded sentient beings with the same amount of heart that they are able to decide on the disposal of used equipment. 

Oh, those horses that were sent to Senora?  A large number of them had a happier end to their story.  A lieutenant and a handful of men stole approximately 400 head, and were able to drive them all the way to the Canadian border.   Those few men in the pursuit of an honorable end to the duty of their charges conquered almost unbelievable odds to move that herd the width of this country.  They risked their lives, certainly their careers to accomplish their mission.  The tale ends there, and you are lead to believe the horses were set free to roam the vast grassy plains of southern central Canada. 

Was there anyway we could have accomplished a similar mission?  After all these years I still have to conclude the similarities end at the governments solution, and no, we didn't have the opportunity to even attempt a similar mission.