Loki Loc: Georgia

Today is the birthday of the US military's K-9 Corps. As a former MP, and a dog lover, I have always been interested in these brave and intelligent animals. Below are some facts about these doggies.



Dogs have been associated with the U.S. Army since its inception, but their role was primarily that of a mascot or in some other unofficial capacity. Not until World War II did the Army make the connection official. In January 1942, members of the American Kennel Club and other dog lovers formed a civilian organization called Dogs for Defense. They intended to train dogs to perform sentry duty for the Army along the coast of the United States. Aware of this effort, Lt. Col. Clifford C. Smith, chief of the Plant Protection Branch, Inspection Division, Quartermaster Corps, met with his commander, Maj. Gen. Edmund B. Gregory, and suggested that the Army use the sentry dogs at supply depots. Gregory gave his approval to an experimental program, and on March 13, 1942, Under Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson approved Gregory’s application and created the K-9 Corps.

Check out these facts about the K-9 Corps and military dogs:

The K-9 Corps initially accepted for training thirty-two breeds of dogs. By 1944, that list had been reduced to seven: German shepherds, Doberman pinschers, Belgian sheep dogs, Siberian huskies, farm collies, Eskimo dogs and Malamutes.
The Quartermaster Corps experimented with training dogs to locate casualties on the battlefield. Dogs were first tested for this at Carlisle Barracks on May 4, 1944. Ultimately, the Army abandoned this program because the dogs did not or could not make a distinction between men not wounded, men who had received wounds, or men who had died.
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. 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.
The top canine hero of World War II was Chips, a German Shepherd who served with the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division. Trained 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. 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.
After World War II, the Military Police Corps took over responsibility for training military dogs. They have continued to serve with distinction in other conflicts.
It is estimated that the Army employed 1,500 dogs during the Korean War and 4,000 in the Vietnam War.
Gabe, a retired military dog who completed more than 200 combat missions in Iraq, was named American Hero Dog of 2012 at the American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards in Los Angeles.
Every military working dog is a noncommissioned officer – in tradition at least. Some say the custom was to prevent handlers from mistreating their dogs; hence, a dog is always one rank higher than its handler.

Richard Rowland

While growing up in the forties and fifties, we always had a family dog. During my preteen years, I had a big black and white dog that followed me everywhere. During those years of, I guess one could refer to them as transition years when stiffer rules began to apply to dogs, mandatory rabies shots, no dogs running loose, etc. , however, the rule of no dogs running loose was something I couldn't abide. Tying him up would have been torture. However, by that time, I had reached my early to mid teens and had ceased allowing him to follow me when I would leave. I can still see him standing there, at the edge of the property, watching me go, not understanding why he could no longer come along.

It's heartbreaking, looking back and thinking of it now. Still, just because I refused to allow him to come with me, didn't mean he stayed home. I had been warned numerous times to tie him up, but being a kid how was never forced to abide by the rules he didn't want to abide, I paid no heed. At that time, there were no dog pounds in small town USA or the county. The local police would, when forced, have the dubious duty of remedying whatever the situation called for, often shooting an unclaimed stray dog.

My dog was not a stray, and his rabies and licenses were current, I had no fear that he would meet the same fate the unfortunate stays often met. But he did! He had been taken into custody and was being held in the lot behind the police station, I broke him out and took him home. I suppose I should have realized that being left to run, my dog's days were numbered. The small town I resided in usually had only two police officers: the day shift, and the night shift. The day shift was considered the chief. This particular police chief was noted for his hatred and fear of dogs and relished killing them. That should have been a warning, for my dog came up missing again for longer than he would usually be gone. I checked the lot, again, behind the police station, he wasn't there. Often, though, if a stray female was in heat and in the area, that's where my dog could be found, and it wasn't unusual for him to be gone for several days.

However, this time, having been gone much longer than anytime previous, my suspicions settled on the dog killing cop. When I confronted him about the whereabouts of my dog he lied, saying he didn't know where he could be. The truth was that he had already killed him. Everyone in town knew my dog, so when the person responsible for disposing of the dogs, the cop shoots, recognized my dog, he told me of picking him up. I'm sure that if hell exists that cop is there. Should I have been more diligent in obeying the laws, regarding dogs? Absolutely! However, tying him up would have been torture for him as well as me, so perhaps....

Sons of Liberty Loc: look behind you!

Great story!
I just wish dogs lived longer lives. I've gone through a few best friends over the years.