11.Around the time Dogs for Defense was dissolving in 1946, and at the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, a small war dog program ran in the interim. This program sought to acquire the best German Shepherd breeding stock available in Germany. Only seven bitches and one male were acquired, and this is most likely where this handful of scout dogs originated.
12.Roy E. Appleman, Disaster in Korea: The Chinese Confront MacArthur (Williams-Ford Texas A & M University Military History Series) (publication place: Texas A&M University Press, 1989), 1. Mr. Appleman illustrates a major source for provoking negative public opinion of the war by quoting an article in the New York Times by journalist Hanson Baldwin in December of 1951. Mr. Baldwin wrote, “The dangerous alternatives of another Munich or Oriental Dunkerque loomed yesterday as the Korean crisis darkened.” This reference to disastrous campaigns of WWII, planted a fear of never-ending conflict in the minds of Americans. Appleman effectively makes the case that these types of articles were the norm and not the exception.
13.Lemish, 157. The 26th Infantry Scout Dog Platoon was cited in 1953 for meritorious service in battle. Different members were awarded medals by the end of the conflict to include three Silver Stars, six Bronze Stars for Valor, and multiple Bronze Stars for Meritorious Service. Only one dog, York, was awarded for service and was brought home to give demonstrations of his capabilities. He became a propaganda tool for recruitment in the years leading up to Vietnam.
14.“Information on Emotional Support Dogs,” United States Dog Registry Information, 2013, usdogregistry.org (accessed October 4, 2016). Although the psychological healing abilities of dogs has always been commonly known, it has only been within the past decade that they have received recognition for those abilities by the scientific community. Emotional Support Dogs are available and protected under Federal Law (Fair Housing Amendments Act, Air Carrier Access Act, et al.) for anyone with a diagnosed mental health issue such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, mood disorder, panic attacks, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder, or suicidal thoughts/tendencies. Of course, military members can and do experience the full gambit of these issues in battle, or on deployment, with many of them experiencing them long after they return home. Oddly, the Veteran’s Administration only granted accessibility to VA facilities for veterans prescribed Emotional Support Dogs on August 17, 2015. This according to a news release issued by them on that date on their website, va.org.
15.Taken from the oral history of Leyte sailor Kent Madenwald, February 8, 2012.
16.Lemish, 151. Lemish quotes from the article “War Dogs” in Military Review, July 1953: “In 1949 for instance, it took an entire infantry battalion to guard several warehouses and supply depots in Japan. Yet within a four-month span, over $600,000 worth of material was lost through theft. When 125 handlers and 65 dogs took over the same guard responsibilities, not a single dollar’s loss could be attributed to theft during the twelve months. This accomplishment released 600 men from guard duties, netting the government millions of dollars in savings.”
17.Mark Derr, A Dog’s History of America: How Our Best Friend Explored, Conquered, and Settled a Continent (New York: Overlook Press, 2013), 297. The Japanese obtained 25,000 Shepherds from the Germans during World War II. They were deployed with devastating effect on the people of China and Southeast Asia throughout the war. The surviving dogs were taken as spoils of war during the American occupation of Japan (1945–1951).
TWO: HARLAN
1.Navsource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive, USNS General R. L. Howze, navsource.org (August 2, 2015).
THREE: PRINZ
1.Orlean, Susan (2011). Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend. New York City: Simon & Schuster.
2.Meet the German Shepherd Dog. akc.org (accessed November 13, 2015) “The German Shepherd dog does not give affection lightly and is known for his dignity and stature; it is also known as a “one-man” breed for its tendency to display serious loyalty and fidelity, especially to its owner or main caretaker.”
3.Gerry took a part time job as a playground attendant to make ends meet.
4.Pharaoh was sold to Mrs. Polly (Brown) Pierce of Bangor, Maine. She was the wealthy widow of Hafford Pierce, brother of the famous painter Waldo Pierce, and she was able to offer Gerry money above the full asking price for Pharaoh. Gerry was struggling to make ends meet, on a teacher’s salary, and it was an offer he couldn’t refuse. Later, Pharaoh had an accident in Mrs. Brown’s care when hot oatmeal was dropped on his back and permanently scarred him, making him an unlikely candidate for show. Gerry took Pharaoh back a couple of years later, however, as Mrs. Pierce had lost interest in him. Gerry sold Pharaoh again, and he would go on to a successful career as a sentry dog in the U.S. Air Force with handler Samuel Yoder.
5.“Bangor Dog Off To Take Basic Training As Sentry In U.S. Army,” Bangor Daily News, November 20, 1953.
6.As reported by the Bangor Daily News in the 1953 article, “Bangor Dog Off To Take Basic Training As Sentry In U.S. Army.”
FOUR: THE CALL
1.“Ft. Ord California.” Ft. Ord California. Accessed February 20, 2016. http://nimst.tripod.com/cgi-bin/ftord.html. Ft. Ord’s military history started in 1846 and continued until the base was closed under the Base Realignment and Closure Act in 1994. The short period of the post’s basic training capacity was especially significant to veterans of Korea and Vietnam as the Army’s main Infantry Training Center.
2.The Buddy System is a recruitment tool the U.S. military branches have used, through several generations, to up their recruitment numbers. Bringing in “buddies” increases the applicant pool and gives the recruit an added measure of security as they are going into something unknown with someone comforting and familiar.
3.“Canine Sentinels” Pacific Stars And Stripes. PIO Hq. 24th Inf. Div. U.S. Army, n.d. By the time this article was published 1954, pilfering from the posts where canine sentries were on duty, had been reduced by 95 percent.
4.“Canine Sentinels” Pacific Stars and Stripes “Descendants of the famed K9 Corps of World War II, the dogs are members of the regular Army, on active duty as long as they are physically fit. They are trained at the Army Dog Training Center, Ft. Carson, Col, where they return in retirement when their tours are completed.”
5.“Canine Sentinels” Pacific Stars and Stripes. PIO Hq. 24th Inf. Div. U.S. Army n.d.
FIVE: GETTING IN
1.Lemish, 151. From 1948-1954 the responsibility, location, and leadership of America’s war-dog programs shifted at least five times. It appears that the scout dog program at Camp Carson was eventually, and literally, absorbed into the sentries. Although the U.S. Quartermasters retained their responsibility for procurement of the dogs, even up until Vietnam, the sentry dog program would be run first by the Military Police Corps and then the Chief of Army Field Services at Ft. Monroe Virginia.
2.“Historical Vignette 011–Former Chief played a part in Army Integration.” U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. February 2001. Accessed April 11, 2016. usage.army.mil. Desegregation began by Executive Order 9981 in 1948. The last segregated unit was disbanded in 1954.
3.The dogs were housed in an area on the perimeter of the base known as Mary Ellen Ranch. This was the same area where mules and horses were kept. It was the place where Fowler had worked with Jasper before coming to the scout dog unit.
4.Horowitz, Alexandra. Inside of a Dog; What Dogs See, Smell, and Know. New York, NY: Scribner, 2009. Cognitive Psychologist, Horowitz, describes the powerful perceptions of dogs by saying that their ability arises from a combination of their attention to us and their sensory prowess. She states, “Dogs are anthropologists because they study and learn about us. They observe a meaningful part of our interaction with each other—our attention, our focus, our gaze; the result is not that they read our minds but that they recognize and anticipate us.” They dogs of the 8125th were undoubtedly anticipatory of the men in a way that even the men couldn’t yet fully grasp.
5.Paterniti, Michael. “The
Dogs of War.” National Geographic, June 2014, 27-53. On field patrols, the average zigzagging scout dog will cover three miles to every mile walked by the handler. Their scenting ability is 100,000 times greater than that of a human. These abilities alone make the scout dog look “smart” in comparison to the average family pet. But it is their use of these tools, refined in their work (which the dogs themselves view as play), which sets them apart. Most of these dogs had been pets previously themselves.
6.Swenson, Judy. “Watson Man Who Served in Korea K9 Unit Believes Military Dogs Deserve More Respect.” Montevideo-American News (Watson), May 27, 2010, America the Beautiful sec. Peterson tells reporter Swenson that Wolf was a great dog who was excellent at his job and deserved the utmost respect both for his work and his power. He says that Wolf just “wasn’t friendly.”
SIX: SECRET DEPLOYMENT
1.“Army Ships Elite Group Of Dog Faces On Secret K-9 Mission To Far East.” Seattle Daily News, August 1954. The bi-line of the article reads, “Snarling Dogs Headed For Sentry Duty Lead GI Life of Luxury.”
2.Seattle Daily News, ibid.
3.Hubert, Yves. “General W. H. Gordon.” Dictionary of American Fighting Ships, n.d. Accessed April 23, 2016. haze gray.org. The U.S.S. W.H. Gordon was used under the MSTS (Military Transportation Service) for the purpose of troop transport from December 1951 until being placed on inactive status, and docked in Seattle, in October of 1954. The vessel which could once hold 5500 troops was virtually empty for the men and dogs of the 8,125th. It appears that this was going to be the Gordon’s last voyage before being revamped, and this is the reason this ship was chosen for a group of dirty dogs and their handlers.
SEVEN: THE MISSION
1.Swenson. ibid
ELEVEN: THE DEMONSTRATIONS
1.Riots In South Korea. British Pathe’ News, 1955. News Reel via Youtube. Film footage of the riots on Wolmido Island in 1955
TWELVE: SHORT TIMERS
1.“Korean: The Korean Conflict.” The United States War Dog Association, Inc. US War Dog Association, n.d. Accessed March 1, 2016. uswardogs.org. The War Dog Receiving and Holding Station at Cameron Station Virginia, was put on stand-by status on 4 May, 1954. With no new dogs coming into the program, and no new sentry dog handlers being recruited, the men knew the program was drawing to a close all together.
FOURTEEN: CALLING THE PACK
1.“Korean: The Korean Conflict.” The United States War Dog Association, Inc. US War Dog Association, n.d. Accessed March 1, 2016. uswardogs.org. Ft. Carson deactivated its military working dog training, altogether, in 1957. The brief history of that decision is given in the US War Dog Association’s Korean War History. “A study was made by the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff in the latter part of 1956 to determine the cost of operating the Army Dog Training Center, Fort Carson Colo. and whether, in view of limited dog requirements the activity should continue. The Center was then being used largely for the training of Air Force dogs on a prorated cost basis. On 29 December 1956, the following decisions were announced: That the Army Dog Training Center will be discontinued prior to 30 June 1957. That no funds or personnel will be programmed for this activity in Fiscal 1958. That the Air Force be given an opportunity to take over and run the dog training operation. The Air Force decided not to conduct training operations at Fort Carson and the Center was closed as directed on I July 1957.
2.“MWD Adoption FAQs.” The United States War Dog Association, Inc. US War Dog Association, n.d. Accessed March 20, 2016. uswardogs.org. The War Dog Association states, “Congressional Military Working Dog adoption law gives priority first to civilian Law Enforcement Agencies, then to prior handlers, and finally to the general public. In the event that a dog’s age or fitness precludes it from being considered for Law Enforcement duties, then a former handler is most often selected. Better than 90% of former MWDs are adopted by their handlers.”
3.Sypesteyn, Denise K. “Canines in Combat: Military Working Dogs.” San Antonio Magazine (November 2013). Accessed April 13, 2016. www.sanantoniomag.com. Up until 1998, the Air Force Military Working Dog Program purchased dogs mainly from Germany and the Netherlands. The Air Force ramped up their military working dog breeding program in that year in hopes of securing a good supply of homegrown MWDs and reducing our nation’s reliance on Europe. By 2013 only 15% of the nation’s military working dog stock were bred at Lackland Air Force Base. All branches of military service now acquire their dogs from the Air Force and all handlers, across the services, train at Lackland AFB, Texas.
AFTERWORD
1.“341st Training Squadron: Lineage,” 37th Training Wing. Last modified February 21, 2016. “The Army continued to train and supply sentry dogs to Air Force units in the United States until the Sentry Dog Training Branch of the Department of Security Police Training was established at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, in October 1958.” http://www.37trw.af.mil/About/FactSheets/Display/tabid/3046/Article/670140/341st-training-squadron.aspx (accessed November 28, 2016).
2.There was a bounty on the heads of the dogs during the Vietnam War, with a cash reward for any North Vietnamese Army soldier who brought back the tattooed ear as proof. From “Vietnam,” The United States War Dog Association, Inc., uswardogs.org (accessed November 29, 2016).
3.“Operation Desert Storm,” The United Sates War Dog Association, Inc., uswardogs.org (accessed November 29, 2016).
4.“Smarter Than You Think: Renowned Canine Researcher Puts Dogs’ Intelligence on Par with 2-Year-Old Human,” American Psychological Association, August 8, 2009, http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2009/08/dogs-think.aspx (accessed November 29, 2016). Research also showed that a dog is capable of understanding up to 250 words and has the ability to count to five.
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