9/11 Working Dog Recognition Ceremony

9/11 Working Dog Recognition Ceremony Liberty State Park, Jersey City, NJ 12:45 PM, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011

Finding One Another (FOA) will honor canine working dog teams on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. FOA has identified more than 950 working dog teams (civilian, government, law enforcement and military) who served in response to the attacks of 9/11. These teams were involved with search and rescue, recovery and security efforts at Ground Zero, the Pentagon, Shanksville and the Fresh Kills Landfill recovery site. They have never been fully honored.

Moment of Remembrance

The Recognition Ceremony will begin at 12:45 pm with an address by the Honorable Frank R. Lautenberg, U.S. Senator, State of New Jersey. Following his address, we will pause at 1:00 pm for the Moment of Remembrance, when cities and towns, firehouses, churches, and other institutions across the country will sound sirens and ring bells for one minute. “These sirens and bells,” writes Senator Lautenberg, “are a signal for each person to stop and remember the people we have lost and demonstrate the perseverance the American people have shown since that fateful day.”

The Recognition Ceremony

FAO has organized a Recognition Ceremony at Liberty State Park, Jersey City, NJ, (across from Lower Manhattan) beginning at 12:45 pm on September 11, 2011. Over 1,000 canine working dog teams who served at the 9/11 sites have been or are being invited and current working dog teams will line the processional route honoring the 9/11 teams.

The Sirius Courage Award

The first Sirius Courage Award will be presented posthumously to SGT Zainah Caye Creamer, USA, the first woman military working dog handler killed in combat in the history of the United States. She died in Afghanistan on January 12, 2011. It will also be presented posthumously to Petty Officer First Class John Douangdara, USN.  PO1 Douangdara was killed along with his canine partner Bart in the attack on the SEAL helicopter in Afghanistan on August 6, 2011 that claimed the lives of 29 of their fellow service members.  The award is named after the only dog to be killed at Ground Zero and will be presented by his handler, Lt. Lim of the Port Authority Police.

Signing of the Convention on Cooperation Among American Working Dog Organizations

Civilian, law enforcement and military working dog teams of 9/11 will be honored at the Recognition Ceremony. At the end of the Recognition Ceremony, members of AKC Parent Clubs, working dog clubs and other organizations will be invited to sign a Convention on Cooperation Among American Working Dog Organizations, with the formalities of a treaty signing ceremony. This ceremony will be a re-signing of the same document that was originally signed in 2008 at the Doberman Pinscher Centennial in Topeka, Kansas.

White House Conference on Working Dogs in America

The momentum generated by the Recognition Ceremony and the historic signing of the Convention on Cooperation will be used to plan a White House Conference on Working Dogs in America. Through the commitment of American dog breeders to DHS and others, the political capital of these efforts may be parlayed into alliances that will help advance the cause of providing American Dogs for American Security in furtherance of the security of the United States.

Working Dog Organizations and AKC Parent Club Involvement Request

There is room for you to become part of this event. We ask for the assistance of all working dog organizations and AKC Parent Clubs in identifying representatives to participate in the signing of the Convention on Cooperation, and volunteers from local chapter clubs in the New York metropolitan area who can help coordinate the dignitaries and participants who are coming to the event.