 Of the over 4 @,@ 000 US war dogs serving in the Vietnam War , 232 were killed in action , and 295 US servicemen deployed as " dog handlers " were killed in action . Dog handler Robert W. <unk> was awarded the Medal of Honor . Six Labrador Retrievers were killed in action while assigned to the 62nd and 63rd US Army Combat Tracking Teams . During the course of the war the US Army lost 204 dogs , while the US Marine Corps and US Air Force lost 13 and 15 dogs , respectively . 
