David Roozen was just 18 when he enlisted in the US Air Force. He graduated high school in 1962 and decided to join the military. Mr Roozen remembers, “I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, so I said ‘well, I’ll just go into the service.’” His dad was a military officer in the Reserves; he told David that he should join either the Navy or the Air Force because they were better than the Army. After an eight-week boot camp he went to Air Police training on the same base in Texas, outside San Antonio.

After training was done, Mr. Roozen was given the choice of serving in the US or serving overseas. The overseas options were Greece, Germany, or France. He choose Ramstein, Germany, as it was where he was most needed. When he got to the base he volunteered for K-9 training with three other men. He and the other men then departed to a K-9 training school in Wiesbaden, which was where Adolf Hitler had officers trained starting in 1936. The instructor at that facility, George, had been the head of Hitler’s dog crew. Mr. Roozen thought that George had substantial knowledge to share about training K-9s; of George he said, “He was very gentle, not at all what you would think of a military German soldier.” He and the men thought that it was cool to know someone who had that much experience. George had also received the Iron Cross, which was the highest award that a German soldier could get for valor.

K-9 training began with basic commands like heel, sit, and stay. After that was security and attack training. After training was done, they went back to the Ramstein base where they were assigned dogs. At the base began the actual work with the dogs, which was night patrols. Mr. Roozen said, “We would secure the outside of secure areas, airplanes, animal dumps, (and) high security areas.” His dog was named Arno. Arno’s serial number was 344R, and he almost weighed as much as Mr. Roozen! Mr. Roozen worked three years with K-9s, from October of 1962 to October of 1965. He enjoyed working with dogs because “you could be your own person, quiet, peaceful. You didn’t have to worry about a lot of other people.” Mr. Roozen also was chosen to be in the honor guard for President John F. Kennedy and the First Lady when they visited Germany. Mr. Roozen got the chance to be very close to the president as he went from the plane to the car.

When asked what his experience in the military was like, David said, “It was fairly rewarding because I had a chance to travel various parts of Europe, and beside the experience of working with the dogs, I had family who lived in Holland, so I got the chance to visit them…I was also very close to a lot of the castles in the area.” He not only got the opportunity to travel while in the military, but also on his days off.

After his service, Mr. Roozen went to college in Minnesota where he studied industrial arts and education. After college he taught at a school before getting his Master’s in Education. He planned to teach at his hometown school but was denied as he was over-qualified. Then he went to work at other companies. In 1969, he met his wife while working at a surgical supply company. He spent more time at school finishing other degrees and working the odd job. Mr. Roozen has lived with his wife in Hillsboro, Oregon, for 47 years, saying that it was the environment that kept him there.