A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....09-24-03...War Dogs...Forgotton Heros

Dutchess, Gizmo and Billie

[dutchess]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

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How precious we "creatures" great and small are. As we salute our military we thought it appropriate to spotlight some of our "behind the scene "heros", the War Dogs who have been serving our country since WWII. God bless our military men, women and canine friends...

"War Dogs...Forgotten Heros" Compiled from the Archives of the U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum & Quartermaster Historian, Fort Lee, Virginia by K. M Born.

The Army Quartermaster Corps began the U.S. Armed Forces first war dog training during WWII. By 1945 they had trained almost 10,000 war dogs for the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

A little known, but interesting chapter in Quartermaster History is the War Dog program. During World War II, not long after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the American Kennel Club and a new group calling itself "Dogs for Defense" mobilized dog owners across the country to donate quality animals to the Quartermaster Corps. Dogs donated by a patriotic public to the Army saved the lives of a number of soldiers in combat.

The first estimates were that only about 200 dogs would be needed, but that soon changed. Dogs for Defense worked with qualified civilian trainers, who volunteered their services without pay, to train dogs for the program. Soon the demand for sentry dogs outstripped the original limited training program. As requirements increased reception and training responsibility was transferred to the Quartermaster Remount Branch, which had years of experience dealing with animals. Dogs for Defense continued its highly successful campaign to solicit donations of dogs. In the fall of 1942 the program expanded to procure and train dogs for the Navy and Coast Guard as well. Later these branches procured and trained their own dogs.

Total training time for a dog was between 8-12 weeks. At the training centers, dogs began a rigid military routine. A "basic training" period was initiated where dogs were trained to carry out certain fundamental commands such as sit, stay, come, etc... They were also accustomed to muzzles, gas masks, riding in military vehicles and to gunfire. After completion of basic training each dog went through specialized training:

Sentry Dogs

Worked on a short leash and were taught to give warning by growling, alerting or barking. They were especially valuable for working in the dark when attack from cover or the rear was most likely. The sentry dog was taught to accompany a military or civilian guard on patrol and gave him warning of the approach or presence of strangers within the area protected.

Scout or Patrol Dogs

In addition to the skills listed for sentry dogs, scout/patrol dogs were trained to work in silence in order to aid in the detection of snipers, ambushes and other enemy forces in a particular locality.

Messenger Dogs

The most desired quality in these dogs was loyalty, since he must be motivated by the desire to work with two handlers. They learned to travel silently and take advantage of natural cover when moving between the two handlers. (A total of 151 messenger dogs were trained.)

Mine Dogs

Called the M-Dog or mine detection dog they were trained to find trip wires, booby traps, metallic and non-metallic mines. (About 140 dogs were trained. Only two units were activated. Both were sent to North Africa where the dogs had problems detecting mines under combat conditions.)

Outstanding War Dogs

Probably the most famous War Dog was Chips. Chips was donated by Edward J. Wren of Pleasantville, New York, was trained at Front Royal , Virginia in 1942, and was among the first dogs to be shipped overseas. He was assigned to the 3d Infantry Division and served with that unit in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and Germany. His assignments included sentry duty at the Roosevelt-Churchill conference in Casablanca in January 1943. Although trained as a sentry dog, Chips was reported on one occasion by members of Company I, 30th Infantry Regiment, to have broken away from his handler and attacked a pillbox containing an enemy machine gun crew in Sicily. He seized one man and forced the entire crew to surrender. He was also credited by the units to which he was assigned as having been directly responsible for capture of numerous enemy by alerting to their presence. In recognition of his service Chips was awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart, both were later revoked. In 1993 Disney produced a TV move about Chips called "Chips the War Dog".

Dick, a scout dog donated by Edward Zan of New York City, was cited for working with a Marine Corps patrol in the Pacific Area. This dog not only discovered a camouflaged Japanese bivouac but unerringly alerted to the only occupied hut of five, permitting a surprise attack which resulted in annihilation of the enemy without a single Marine casualty.

Returning War Dogs to Civilian Life

At the end of the war the Quartermaster Corps put into operation a plan for return of war dogs to their civilian owners. Dogs were sent to a reprocessing section for the purpose of rehabilitation for civilian life. Dogs were trained that every human was friendly and tested for such things as reaction to people riding around them on bicycles or placed in an area with a great amount of noise. Before return, each dog was given a final check by a veterinary officer. Shipment of the dog to the owner was made at government expense. Those dogs which the original owner did not desire were sold to the public by the Treasury Department with the assistance of Dogs for Defense. By early 1947 the return of all borrowed dogs was completed.

Postscript

The oldest memorial to War Dogs in the United States is at the Hartsdale (New York) Pet Cemetery. This memorial was dedicated in 1922 to War Dogs used in World War I. In 1994 a War Dog memorial was dedicated at the U.S. Marine Corps War Dog Cemetery on Guam to honor the dogs that served in the An effort is currently underway to to petition the U.S. Postal Service for a stamp honoring military working dogs.

How to Adopt a Retired Military Dog

The Department of Defense is now making Military Working Dogs that are no longer capable of performing their military duties available for adoption. Public Law 106-446 makes the Department of Defense military working dogs available for adoption to law enforcement agencies, former handlers of these dogs, and other persons capable of caring for these dogs. If you are interested in adopting one of the dogs please call Status Control at 1-800-531-1066.

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 09-22-03 Military Monday 09-23-03...Isabel

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[iceskater]

Hi there-

Bubba and Lucy did pretty well. In fact, Lucy was out hunting on Friday and caught herself a squirrel. Which is remarkable considering she is missing some teeth.

I think they were more irritated with us going on vacation to Va. Beach the week before. LOL. It was weird watching some of the hurricane coverage on Thursday on CNN. One of the reporterettes was reporting from right outside our hotel - right where we were staying just a few days before. Very weird. Glad we went on vacation when we did.

[MeekOneGOP]

hehe ! I like that one too ! Fairly new. I get favorable replies to it when I post it.

[Pippin]

Almost! :O)

[Pippin]

Oh! Brother!

:O)

Hi, (((FREE)))!

[FreeTheHostages]

Good morning!

[Spruce]

Greetings,
Sorry for the prolonged absence as I've only had time to do a bit of "hit-and-run" posting lately :).

An update on my daughter. She is about halfway through basic now and not only doing well, but excelling! It never occurred to me but the 4 years she spent in marching band have been a real assset. Her TI's have been taking her aside and commending Holly on her performance and attitude.

She tells me that even though they only get 5 minutes to eat the food is excellent. But that didn't stop 2 of the kids from buying candy when they got some time to go to town for necessities. Bad news for the 2 candy smugglers, they were sent back to the beginning. Not smart.

As a wee bit of luck would have it, I recently finished some programming for Northwest Airlines. As part of my compensation they gave me 2 vouchers for round-trip airfare. So my son and I will be travelling to Texas in mid-October for the graduation free of charge!

So I am happy to report all is better than well.

[Billie]

Good morning, Dutchess. What a wonderful story! I always love reading about our four-legged heros, and you've again presented a story today that's both informative and heartwarming. These dogs are amazing, and their training, both for war action and then returning to civilian life, is absolutely mind-boggling. Thank you!

[dansangel]

Wow, (((((dutchess))))))

Thank you for the much-needed education. I had *no idea* that dogs are such an integral part of our military.

Thank you for bringing this important information to The Finest!

[dansangel]

(((((((((Hugs)))))))) to all of my Finest Sistahs, and *especially* to my Finest Fuzzy Brothah:

[[[[[{{{{{(((((Louie_Wolfie_man)))))}}}}}]]]]]

Sistah dutchess gave me a great education today!

[dansangel]

What a wonderful photo (((((thinktwice)))))

Thank you for sharing it with us. Thank *you* dutchess for putting it up and the ping!

[dansangel]

(((((((((jwfiv))))))))

Always so wonderful to *see* you!

:-)

[dansangel]

((((((((MIXER)))))))

You've been AWOL way too long. :-(

You need to come out and visit with your FRiends more often!

:-)

[JustAmy]

I really enjoy this thread about our canine heros!!

Thank you and Gizmo for reminding us of some unsung heros.

...

[dansangel]

I think a lot of the married guys here can probably relate to that.

Pfffffttttt! :-)

So wonderful to see you (((((((Flyer)))))))

[FreeTheHostages]

"absolutely mind-boggling"

Yup. LOL, I'm pretty sure my cats wouldn't be good at that stuff!

[JustAmy]

Good Morning, Finest Friends.
Fresh flowers for everyone!!!

[Aeronaut]

You're always so timely!

{You're} I'm always so usually timely!

[Flyer]

Pfffffttttt!

Well, being a single guy I am just going on what I hear from my married buddies. It could mean they like that short leash because it keeps them close to their honey.

[Calpernia]

Not a military dog. Just saw it in AP photos. Too cute not to add to the pet thread.

[Flyer]

Did y'all know the BadDogCam is back on the air (sometimes)?