Based on some investigations by members a couple of years ago we found the following about early female K-9 handler.
1. Cynthia Brunette has publicly claimed to be the very first female US Military dog handler, but no one was ever able to verify her story, or even that she was a dog handler.
2. Records indicate that on 13 August, 1973 Sheila Dugan, and Richie Thompson were the first (2) females to graduate as Military Dog Handlers.
The above information was gathered by others and posted on this website a couple of years ago, look it up so the credit goes to the right person, not me.
In any event we are pleased to meet you, and welcome to the club, share all you can about your experiences with us.
Semper Fi
Perry C. Money
"Missy" 7K37
USMC MBT Team Vietnam 1970
Thanks for your reply! I knew there were a few before me, but I never knew who they were or when they had trained. Would love to meet up with them, if anyone knows....thanks!!
Good to hear from you, thought maybe we had made you mad or something.
If you would give us the name of the unit or units that you worked with as a dog handler we will see what can be done to get you in touch with some of those folks.
Also give us a few days and we will see what can be done to locate some of the other early female handlers.
As far as I know history has kind of missed you guys, and we need to see if this can be corrected.
Additionally I would invite you to join the Vietnam Dog Handlers Association as an associate member.
If you will go to our website at vdha.us and fill out the application form, and then send it to me, I will place a check with it to cover your first years membership.
You may also use my ID number and password to access our members only archives, and advanced search feature ( 1592/money ).
Let us know what else we can do for you.
Thank you for your service to our great country, and welcome home.
Semper Fi
Perry C. Money
"Missy" 7K37 Vietnam 1970