Table Of Content“Astonishing stories about military working dogs...rare, compelling photographs...”
—CLEVELANDPLAINDEALER
= =*
A HISTORY OF LOYALTY AND HEROISM
SS Dew.* 2
MICHAEL G. LEMISH
HISTORY/ANIMALS
WAR DOG:
THE FIRST COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF THE MILITARY Doa,
“WarDogstells the fascinating, bittersweetstory ofourunsung animal heroes.It is a
|
poignanttribute tothe fifty thousandcanine soldiers whohave served ourcountry, often at |
the expense oftheirownlives.”
—MARY E. THURSTON
AUTHOR OF THE LOSTHISTORYOFTHE CANINE RACE
“Lemish has unearthed afascinating piece ofhistory, muchofittold forthefirst time.”
ese e
—CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER *,—_
| I “OnceI startedreading WarDogs, Icouldn’tputitdown. Finally abookhas been written
tohonorourK9 heroes,Anyone wholoves dogs shouldbuy this book.”
—JOHN LANGLEY
PRESIDENTOFTHE
VIETNAM DOG HANDLER ASSOCIATION
“Forthose interestedindogs andAmericanmilitary history, this bookis amust. Like the
tent, the military dog has neverbecome obsolete. Lemish’s accounts ofthe ups anddowns
ofourmilitary dog programs andourGls’personal experiences withtheirdogsmakethis
bookfascinating reading.” : ae
—COL. WILLIAM H.H. CLARK, USA (RET.)
AUTHOR OF HISTORYOF.THEU.S. ARMY VETERINARY
Corps IN VIETNAM, 1962-73
COVER DESIGN BY BEAJACKSON, lvv PAGES.
COPYRIGHT© 1999 BRASSEY’S.
i
ISBN e57485216-3
--
BRASSEY’S
22883 QUICKSILVER DRIVE
DULLES, VIRGINIA 20166
MICHAEL G. LEMISH
BRASSEY’S
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Copyright© 1996Brassey’s,Inc.
Firstpaperbackedition1999
PublishedintheUnitedStatesbyBrassey’s,Inc.Allrightsreserved.No
partofthisbookmaybereproducedinanymannerwhatsoeverwithout
writtenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptinthecaseofbriefquota-
tionsembodiedincriticalarticlesandreviews.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Lemish,MichaelG.
Wardogs:ahistoryofloyaltyandheroism/MichaelG.Lemish.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN1-57488-216-3(alk.paper)
1.Dogs—UnitedStates—Waruse—History—20thcentury.
I.Title.
UH100.L46 1995 95-379
355.4—dc20
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmericaonacid-freepaperthatmeets
theAmericanNationalStandardsInstituteZ39-48standard.
Brassey's,Inc.
22841 QuicksilverDrive
Dulles,Virginia20166
10098765 43
For THosE Wuo SERVED
CONTENTS
Preface ix
1 Origins ofthe ModernMilitaryWorkingDog 7
AHistorical Perspective 7
EarlyAmerican Ideas 5
2 TheWorldWarI Experience 77
The MercyDogs 1914-1918 77
Fleet-footedMessengers 77
Final Participant 27
Stubby: AmericanMascotHero 24
Aftermath 28
Between theWars 30
3 Startingfrom Scratch 33
AnotherWar and Still No Dogs 33
The Volunteer Effort 35
Establishment ofWarDog Centers 47
Guardingthe Home Front 47
CatIsland 53
Marine Devildogs 59
Search and Rescue 64
4 Ready for Combat 73
Chips 73
Focus on Tactical Dogs 78
vit
CONTENTS
M-dogs: Experimental Failure 94
Bougainville 97
CBI Detachment 703
European Operations 770
The Pacific Battles 777
Return ofthe Canine Veterans 742
5 Postwar and Korea 749
Official Chaos 749
Into Battle Again 752
Yankee—Take Your Dog and Go Home! 758
Enter the Air Force 767
6 The Vietnam Saga 767
War on the Horizon 767
On Guardagainstthe VC (772
Return ofthe ScoutDogs 782
The M-dogReturns 797
Huntingthe Viet Cong 206
The Superdog Program 274
Four-Footed Radar 277
The Hostile Environment 222
Exile 230
7 Lessons Learned 239
The Vietnam Experience 239
ChangingTimes 244
Epilogue 255
Endnotes 259
Bibliography 273
Index 277
vit
PREFACE
In life thefirmestfriend,
Thefirstto welcome,foremostto defend,
Whosehonestheartisstillhismaster’s own
Wholabors,fights, lives, breathesforhim alone.
—Noet Gorvon, Lorp Byron
Ax AMERICAN ARMY PATROL MOVED SLOWLY, KNOWING AN
ambush could strike at any moment. Astheir bodies tensed
with anticipation, the young infantrymen remained confident;
a handler and his German shepherdled the men on a narrow
path through the jungle. Suddenly the dog stopped, his ears
perked up, and the hair bristled along his back. The handler
motioned for everyoneto drop. As the soldiers dove for cover,
the crack ofa single shot rang out, splitting the stillness ofthe
air. A lone bullet tore through muscle and bone as the dog
crumpled to the ground. The soldier dropped to his knees and
cradled the dog, and he could see the shepherd’s eyes were
wide with fear, not understanding the reason for this punish-
ment. Amomentlater the dogstoppedbreathinganddied.
The infantrymen concentrated their firepower toward the
direction in which the dog had previously pointed. From a
tree, an enemysniper tumbledinto the underbrush. Carefully
withdrawing to their own lines, the patrol returned, with the
handler carryingthe bloodied body ofthe German shepherd.
This scene andsimilar ones have repeatedly taken place—
on Pacific islands, in Korea, and in Vietnam—hundreds of
times since World War I. Over thirty thousand dogs have
served in the U.S. military, thrustinto harm’s way and respon-
sible for saving thousands ofAmerican lives. Throughouthis-
tory, dogs have been employed effectively for sentry and
ix
PREFACE
scouting duty, findingboobytraps, and locating wounded and
lost soldiers. Their only reward was merely praise for doing a
goodjob. Having fought alongside humankindinbattle, these
dogs are the forgotten veterans. —
WhenI first heard about dogs in combat, I immediately
thought of sentry dogs—a stereotypical scene of a handler and
dog walking along a fence at some remote backwater military
post. It took a while, but I soon realized that the military en-
listed the help of dogs for a variety of important roles. The
more I tried to learn, the morefrustrated I became. Bits and
pieces ofinformation lingered aboutas scant line or two em-
bedded within a military history book or an occasional maga-
zine article. I wondered why nothing was ever written about
the subject. Of course several books had been written years
ago, butnothing ofmerit since 1955.
Throughout my research I’ve discovered many books
about every imaginable military subject, yet the contributions
of military canines remain obscure and intangible. There are
several reasons whythis is so. The macho military establish-
ment will acknowledge, even pontificate on, the weapons of
war in both their destructive capacity and how they saved
American lives, won a battle, or brought wars to an end.Just
look at the recent fawning over the flawed Patriot missile sys-
tem during Operation Desert Storm. For the upper echelon of
the armedforces to attribute such success andsophistication to
a lowlyfour-legged animal is a slap in the face to military tradi-
tion—except that in reality it is not. Men who enter combat
with an animal share a unique experience, andit is not one to
be taken lightly. Military working dogs are unlike anything
else in America’s arsenal, and the armed services make the
mistake ofassociatingthem with military hardware. Until dogs
achieve a unique status and are properly recognizedas living,
thinking creatures, the U.S. military dog program, although
successful, will never reachits full potential.
Animal rights proponents will argue that the use of dogs
by the military establishment is nothing more than exploita-
tion. To use dogs in combatis just another form of cruelty
inflicted upon animals whodonotstart the wars that they par-
x
