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| 21 - Untitled |
Robert Kent Halladay
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Acquisition Number: 2013.57.1
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Two exhausted Marines and a scout dog find some shade after coming in from patrol in South Vietnam. The humidity, heat, and rain took its toll on Marines and their dogs. Tropical diseases, poor diet, and heat exhaustion accounted for most canine deaths. Fewer than seven per cent of war dogs serving in Vietnam were wounded in action. When U.S. troops left Vietnam in 1973, the Department of Defense categorized war dogs as expendable equipment and ordered that they be left behind, despite the protests of dog handlers and others. Thousands of dogs served; only 200 made it back home. This controversial disregard for the dogs and the anguish of their handlers led to the passage of “Robby’s Law” by Congress in 2000, which requires that at the end of their service military dogs are offered first to former military dog handlers, then to law enforcement, and finally to qualified families.
Artist Robert Kent Halladay (1932-2024) created this painting in 2007 from photographs he took in Vietnam in 1967-68 as a volunteer Marine Corps combat artist. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Texas Christian University and taught art at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. A long-time Minnesotan, Halladay was an advertising artist for over 30 years and was passionate about art and teaching.
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