Scope and Contents

The collection consists of less than a quarter of a linear foot of documents and slides documenting Frank Gwazdauskas' service as a veterinary technician with the 34th Infantry Platoon Scout Dogs. The materials include scout dog handler training documents, a Christmas pamphlet, correspondence, a list of canine KIA, reports, notes, personal accounts, and organizational clothing and equipment records. The materials are dated 1967-1968.

Biographical / Historical

Frank Gwazdauskas was born in 1943 in Waterbury, Connecticut. He was drafted into the U.S. Army and completed basic training at Fort Gordon, Georgia (January-March 1967), Veterinary Technician School at Walter Reed, Washington, DC (March-July 1967), and Scout Dog Training School at Fort Benning, Georgia (July-October 1967). In Vietnam he served as a veterinary technician (MOS 91T20, 91T30, 91T40) with the 34th Infantry Platoon Scout Dogs from November 1967-November 1968, and was stationed at An Khe, Cam Ranh Bay, LZ Sharon, LZ Stud, Camp Evans, and Quan Loi.

He was discharged from the Army in November 1968. He went to graduate school at the University of Florida (MS, 1972 ; PhD, 1974). From December 1974 until his retirement in 2012 he held a faculty position in the Dairy Science Department at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and was also an adjunct professor at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine from 2008-2016.

He is a member of the Vietnam Dog Handler Association.