FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA21)- At The Veterans National Memorial Shrine and Museum Saturday, Veterans gathered to remember some brave K-9’s that helped in the war effort.

At the museum, was a display that showed the history of war dogs dating back to WWI. During the event, Veterans such as Allen Mathews and John Meeks spoke to friends and family alike about their experiences with their dogs. Meeks brought his newly adopted dog, Brutus.

“Brutus is 8 years old, he served almost 6 years, He’s what they call a PED dog, which stands for Patrol Explosive Detection Dogs,” Meeks said.

Meeks served as a Scout Dog Platoon in the Vietnam War. During the war, he helped train dogs, and before he had Brutus he had Artus.

“I tie Artus to a tree and I lay right there beside him, I woke up several times but never by Artus it was by the G.I. he had just bit because he walked too close to me, so I knew no one was ever going to sneak up on me. He was my partner, he was my buddy and definitely was my protector,” Meeks said.

Artus was a distinguished German shepherd with the 42nd Scout Dog Platoon. The brave pup was killed in combat on December 11th, 1970.

“We were together 24/7, everyday whether we were in the field or we were in the rear we were still together,” Meeks said.

Eric Johnson, a board member at the Museum said the event was a great opportunity for the community to come out and learn more about the war dogs.

“The dogs, their smell was 60 times what a normal human being’s would be, they’re hearing is much much stronger so when you had these dogs with you I mean they were alert on everything.” Johnson said.

Johnson said the display will be up for the public to enjoy until the middle of November. For more information about Meeks and war dogs visit his website.