Okla-homey
3/13/2008, 08:40 AM
March 13, 1942: U.S. Army launches K-9 Corps
http://aycu35.webshots.com/image/48634/2004594805048771034_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004594805048771034)
66 years ago, on this day in 1942, the Quartermaster Corps (QMC) of the United States Army begins training dogs for the newly established War Dog Program, or "K-9 Corps."
Well over a million dogs served on both sides during World War I, carrying messages along the complex network of trenches and providing some measure of psychological comfort to the soldiers. They, however, were mostly pets and unit mascots.
The most famous dog to emerge from the war was Rin Tin Tin, an abandoned puppy of German war dogs found in France in 1918 and taken to the United States, where he made his film debut in the 1922 silent film The Man from Hell's River. As the first bona fide animal movie star, Rin Tin Tin made the little-known German Shepherd breed famous across the country.
http://aycu18.webshots.com/image/48937/2004543112025484686_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004543112025484686)
http://aycu07.webshots.com/image/47926/2004564445493186316_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004564445493186316)
Rin Tin Tin on the set in 1925
In the United States, the practice of training dogs for military purposes was largely abandoned after World War I. When the country entered World War II in December 1941, the American Kennel Club and a group called "Dogs for Defense" began a movement to mobilize dog owners to donate healthy and capable animals to the Quartermaster Corps of the U.S. Army.
Training began on this day in March 1942, and that fall the QMC was given the task of training dogs for the U.S. Navy, Marines and Coast Guard as well.
The K-9 Corps initially accepted over 30 breeds of dogs, but the list was soon narrowed to seven: German Shepherds, Belgian Shepherds, Doberman Pinschers, Collies, Siberian Huskies, Malumutes and Huskies or mixed breed dogs as long as the mix involved any combination of the above breeds.
Canine members of the K-9 Corps were trained for a total of 8 to 12 weeks. After basic obedience training, they were sent through one of four specialized programs to prepare them for work as 1) sentry dogs, 2) scout or patrol dogs, 3) messenger dogs or 4) mine-detection dogs.
In active combat duty, scout dogs proved especially essential by alerting patrols to the approach of the enemy and preventing surprise attacks.
The top canine hero of World War II was Chips, a German Shepherd who served with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division. Chips was a German Shepherd-Collie-Husky mix owned by Edward J. Wren of Pleasantville, NY. During the war, private citizens like Wren donated their dogs for duty. Chips shipped out to the War Dog Training Center, Front Royal, Virginia, in 1942 for training as a sentry dogTrained as a sentry dog, Chips broke away from his handlers and attacked an enemy machine gun nest in Italy, forcing the entire crew to surrender.
http://aycu35.webshots.com/image/48634/2004539496930291593_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004539496930291593)
Chips
The wounded Chips was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star and the Purple Heart--all of which were later revoked due to an Army policy preventing official commendation of animals. Chips was discharged in December 1945 and returned to the Wren family. In 1990 Disney produced a TV move about Chips called "Chips the War Dog".
http://aycu02.webshots.com/image/46001/2004568462005888392_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004568462005888392)
Military working dog on an Air Force base in Germany
Today, military working dogs are trained to perform two basic missions. Either bomb/drug sniffers or guard/patrol dogs. All are trained at Lackland AFB in San Antonio and graduates are then assigned to one of the four branches of the armed forces.
If you would like to provide a home for a retired military working dog, go here:
http://www.militaryworkingdogs.com/
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/48525/2004576310597607464_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004576310597607464)
Military working dog assigned to the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam
As an aside, it is especially appropriate that Chips was assigned to the 3ID, because its official march remains to this day, The Dog Faced Soldier (hence the nickname for 3ID soldiers, "dog face.")
hear 3ID soldiers sing it here:
http://www.stewart.army.mil/3DIDWeb/Dog%20Face%20Soldier%20Song/dogface.wav
Dog Faced Soldier
http://aycu13.webshots.com/image/48812/2000854094424653417_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000854094424653417)
I Wouldn't Give A Bean
To Be A Fancy Pants Marine
I'd Rather Be A
Dog Face Soldier Like I Am
I Wouldn't Trade My Old OD's
For All The Navy's Dungarees
For I'm The Walking Pride
Of Uncle Sam
On Army Posters That I Read
It Says "Be All That You Can"
So They're Tearing Me Down
To Build Me Over Again
I'm Just A Dog Face Soldier
With A Rifle On My Shoulder
And I Eat Raw Meat
For Breakfast E'V'RY Day
So Feed Me Ammunition
Keep Me In Third Division
Your Dog Face Soldier's A-Okay
http://aycu39.webshots.com/image/46678/2004501277573414777_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004501277573414777)
http://aycu35.webshots.com/image/48634/2004594805048771034_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004594805048771034)
66 years ago, on this day in 1942, the Quartermaster Corps (QMC) of the United States Army begins training dogs for the newly established War Dog Program, or "K-9 Corps."
Well over a million dogs served on both sides during World War I, carrying messages along the complex network of trenches and providing some measure of psychological comfort to the soldiers. They, however, were mostly pets and unit mascots.
The most famous dog to emerge from the war was Rin Tin Tin, an abandoned puppy of German war dogs found in France in 1918 and taken to the United States, where he made his film debut in the 1922 silent film The Man from Hell's River. As the first bona fide animal movie star, Rin Tin Tin made the little-known German Shepherd breed famous across the country.
http://aycu18.webshots.com/image/48937/2004543112025484686_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004543112025484686)
http://aycu07.webshots.com/image/47926/2004564445493186316_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004564445493186316)
Rin Tin Tin on the set in 1925
In the United States, the practice of training dogs for military purposes was largely abandoned after World War I. When the country entered World War II in December 1941, the American Kennel Club and a group called "Dogs for Defense" began a movement to mobilize dog owners to donate healthy and capable animals to the Quartermaster Corps of the U.S. Army.
Training began on this day in March 1942, and that fall the QMC was given the task of training dogs for the U.S. Navy, Marines and Coast Guard as well.
The K-9 Corps initially accepted over 30 breeds of dogs, but the list was soon narrowed to seven: German Shepherds, Belgian Shepherds, Doberman Pinschers, Collies, Siberian Huskies, Malumutes and Huskies or mixed breed dogs as long as the mix involved any combination of the above breeds.
Canine members of the K-9 Corps were trained for a total of 8 to 12 weeks. After basic obedience training, they were sent through one of four specialized programs to prepare them for work as 1) sentry dogs, 2) scout or patrol dogs, 3) messenger dogs or 4) mine-detection dogs.
In active combat duty, scout dogs proved especially essential by alerting patrols to the approach of the enemy and preventing surprise attacks.
The top canine hero of World War II was Chips, a German Shepherd who served with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division. Chips was a German Shepherd-Collie-Husky mix owned by Edward J. Wren of Pleasantville, NY. During the war, private citizens like Wren donated their dogs for duty. Chips shipped out to the War Dog Training Center, Front Royal, Virginia, in 1942 for training as a sentry dogTrained as a sentry dog, Chips broke away from his handlers and attacked an enemy machine gun nest in Italy, forcing the entire crew to surrender.
http://aycu35.webshots.com/image/48634/2004539496930291593_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004539496930291593)
Chips
The wounded Chips was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star and the Purple Heart--all of which were later revoked due to an Army policy preventing official commendation of animals. Chips was discharged in December 1945 and returned to the Wren family. In 1990 Disney produced a TV move about Chips called "Chips the War Dog".
http://aycu02.webshots.com/image/46001/2004568462005888392_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004568462005888392)
Military working dog on an Air Force base in Germany
Today, military working dogs are trained to perform two basic missions. Either bomb/drug sniffers or guard/patrol dogs. All are trained at Lackland AFB in San Antonio and graduates are then assigned to one of the four branches of the armed forces.
If you would like to provide a home for a retired military working dog, go here:
http://www.militaryworkingdogs.com/
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/48525/2004576310597607464_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004576310597607464)
Military working dog assigned to the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam
As an aside, it is especially appropriate that Chips was assigned to the 3ID, because its official march remains to this day, The Dog Faced Soldier (hence the nickname for 3ID soldiers, "dog face.")
hear 3ID soldiers sing it here:
http://www.stewart.army.mil/3DIDWeb/Dog%20Face%20Soldier%20Song/dogface.wav
Dog Faced Soldier
http://aycu13.webshots.com/image/48812/2000854094424653417_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000854094424653417)
I Wouldn't Give A Bean
To Be A Fancy Pants Marine
I'd Rather Be A
Dog Face Soldier Like I Am
I Wouldn't Trade My Old OD's
For All The Navy's Dungarees
For I'm The Walking Pride
Of Uncle Sam
On Army Posters That I Read
It Says "Be All That You Can"
So They're Tearing Me Down
To Build Me Over Again
I'm Just A Dog Face Soldier
With A Rifle On My Shoulder
And I Eat Raw Meat
For Breakfast E'V'RY Day
So Feed Me Ammunition
Keep Me In Third Division
Your Dog Face Soldier's A-Okay
http://aycu39.webshots.com/image/46678/2004501277573414777_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004501277573414777)