Forgotten Heroes: The Robert Hartsock Story

Military working dogs and their handlers save lives on the battlefield and continue to do so today. In Vietnam alone, 10,000 American lives are credited with having been saved by the actions of over 4,000 dogs and their handlers. Yet their service and sacrifices are not well known. Neither is the fact that almost none of the dogs came home. Lesser still is that on February 23, 1969, US Army Staff Sergeant Robert Hartsock saved his lieutenant, his base, every dog on that base, and altered the course of the war. In so doing, he became the first and only military working dog handler in the history of the United States to ever receive the Medal of Honor. Yet almost no one knows this. SSgt Robert Hartsock has become a forgotten hero. It’s time to tell the story.