Dogs have been our companions for thousands of years.
Our four-legged friends have bonded with us as pets and family members.
Here is my dog, Callie.
They perform many roles for us humans, such as helping hunters,assisting the police, and aiding disabled people.
This influence on human society has given them the nickname --- “man's best friend."
For the K-9 handlers in the US military, dogs are a soldier's best friend.
Since World War I, tens of thousands of dogs have served in the United States Armed Forces
alongside their handlers in K-9 units.
War dogs have served in combat, saving thousands of lives of our military troops.
Let's meet Sgt Stubby, Chips, Nemo and Cairo. Next on Marking History!
This is the historical marker and national monument for military working dog teams
located here at Lackland Air Force Base, in San Antonio Texas.
The center sculpture is a 9 foot modern day Military Working Dog Handler wearing combat gear.
It is fitting that this National Monument was established here,
because this Air Force base has been the recruiting and training facility
for the U.S. Armed Services military working dog program since 1958.
The story of dogs in warfare is an old one, stretching back to antiquity.
In ancient times large mastiff breeds would be strapped with armor or spiked collars
and sent into battle to attack the enemy.
Dogs were part of Attila the Hun's forces in his fifth- century European conquests.
In the Middle Ages, knights outfitted dogs with canine armor.
During the Civil War, hounds were used to protect, send messages and guard prisoners.
These dogs are not mascots.
They are highly trained and proficient four-legged Soldiers,Marines, Airmen, Sailors and Coast Guardsmen.
So why do we use military dogs?
Maybe because a dog has the ability to detect enemy targets with exceptional accuracy
compared to humans on the battlefield.
Over the course of many years and millions of dollars of military spending,
nothing has been proven more effective against hidden bombs than the nose of a military working dog.
The idea of specific military working dog-training programs did not become popular until World War I.
Aside from the sentry and messenger roles they provided for military units,
dogs aided the Red Cross in helping locate wounded soldiers on the front lines.
Known as "mercy dogs," these animals would find incapacitated wounded soldiers
and alert handlers by bringing back a piece of clothing or displaying other signals.
Initially, Corporal Robert Conroy adopted this stray mutt as a pet for his military unit
which was training on the Yale University campus in July 1917.
Soon Stubby became the unofficial mascot of the 102nd Infantry Regiment US Army.
Once in France, the 102nd went straight into the trenches, commencing eight months of serious combat.
While fighting in the trenches, the soldiers soon discovered that this smart little dog was more than a mere pet
he was a battlefield asset.
Stubby instinctively understood lives were at risk
and he defended the men with the same ferocity of your family dog defending your house.
In his first year of battle, Stubby was injured by mustard gas.
After he recovered, he returned with a specially designed gas mask to protect him.
With his keen sense of smell, he warned his unit of mustard gas attacks.
And since he could hear the whine of incoming artillery shells before humans
Stubby became very adept at alerting his unit when to duck for cover.
In the Argonne, he even captured a German spy!
One day while patrolling an empty trench area, Stubby happened upon a soldier he sensed was out of place.
Stubby chased the man who began running, and clamped down on his leg, toppling him into the mud.
When the patrol showed up, they realized that Stubby's quarry was a German spy,
mapping out Allied trenches and wearing an American uniform!
When word got out of Stubby capturing a spy by himself, he was given a battlefield promotion of Sergeant.
Stubby served for 18 months and participated in 17 battles on the Western Front.
Stubby was awarded many medals for his heroism, including a medal from the Humane Society
which was presented by General John Pershing, the Commanding General of the United States Armies.
Stubby has been called the most decorated war dog of WWI.
"Sergeant Stubby"returned home as a war hero, participated in parades and met President Woodrow Wilson,
who shook his paw.
Stubby is still honored today with books and an animated movie
Well done soldier. Thank you Sergeant.
I was talking to the dog!
They are sharing his heroic story with a new generation of young dog lovers.
You can visit this life size bronze statue of him at Veterans Memorial Park in Middletown, Connecticut.
There's Stubby with his famous military salute.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the entrance of the United States into World War Two
a small group of civilian dog enthusiasts approached the Army
about creating a program that would utilize the special traits and skills of “man's best friend”.
Mrs. Alene Erlanger founded the Dogs for Defense organization in January of 1942.
Three months later, the US Army named Dogs for Defense the authorized agency for canine recruitment and training.
This organization encouraged dog owners to donate their dogs to help with the war effort.
With the endorsement of the American Kennel Club, Dogs for Defense quickly began training the animals.
One of the most vital missions performed by these early sentry dogs was the patrol of America's coastlines.
For this task, trained dogs were assigned to Coast Guard handlers, who used the dogs' keen senses
to patrol the beaches and other areas along the U.S. coast in order to prevent enemy sabotage.
As World War Two progressed, military working dogs were trained for many more duties.
They ran telephone wire, carried messages, transported needed ammunition, and aided fallen soldiers.
In August 1942, the Wren Family enlisted their family dog, Chips, a German shepherd, collie, husky mix
into the Army, participating in the new Dogs for Defense program.
After instruction at the War Dog Training Center in Front Royal, Va., Chips was assigned to Private John Rowell
as his K-9 handler and shipped overseas in early 1943.
Chips' first big assignment was guard dog duty at the Casablanca Conference
for President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in January 1943.
Then it was on to Sicily.
In the predawn hours of July 10, 1943, the 3rd Infantry Division landed on the shore of southern Sicily
for Operation Husky, a major World War Two campaign to take back the island.
Among the troops that hit the beach was the 30th Infantry Regiment
including Private John Rowell and his sentry dog, Chips.
At daylight, the platoon began working its way inland.
Suddenly a machine gun opened fire, hidden in what appeared to be a nearby peasant hut.
It was really a camouflaged bunker!
Rowell and the rest of the platoon immediately hit the ground.
But Chips broke free from his handler and raced into the pillbox, snarling all the way.
After a lot of noise inside the hut, the machine gun fell silent.
One Italian soldier came out of the bunker with Chips at his throat.
Rowell called him off before he could kill the man.
Three other Italian soldiers followed outside, holding their hands above their heads in surrender.
Unfortunately, Chips was wounded in the action.
Luckily, medics treated Chips and released him to Private Rowell later that day.
That night, while on guard duty Chips alerted Rowell of an infiltration attempt by ten Italian soldiers.
Together they captured all ten.
Within days, the story of Chips' heroics had swept through the division.
Chips gained notoriety for other acts during the conflict,
including a public meeting with General Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1945.
When the future president bent down to pet the service dog to thank him for his bravery,
Guess what?
Chips bit him.
Eisenhower did not know that Chips had been trained to clamp down
on humans he didn't know.
Chips was discharged in December 1945 and returned to the Wren family.
The story of Chips lives on through an award-winning book
and a popular Disney movie, "Chips the War Dog."
Now who can resist a dog story about the importance of home, friendship, and loyalty
during one of the most challenging times in America's history.
About 5,000 US war dogs served in the Vietnam War.
The United States War Dogs Association estimated that these combat dogs saved over 10,000 U.S. lives in Vietnam.
The buildup of American forces in Vietnam during the mid 1960's
created a huge need for sentry dogs at United States Air Force bases in Southeast Asia.
Within a year of deployment, attacks on several bases had been stopped
when the enemy forces were detected by military dog teams.
Captured Vietcong told of the fear and respect that they had for the dogs.
The Vietcong even placed a bounty on lives of handlers and dogs.
On December 4, 1966, Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon
was attacked by a large force of Viet Cong commandos.
After the assault, enemy stragglers remained hidden.
Air Force airman Robert Throneburg started out on night patrol with his war dog, Nemo, to find these enemy stragglers.
Suddenly, the German shepherd's ears shot up and his body stiffened.
He sensed the intruder before Throneburg saw him. Throneburg turned Nemo loose.
The Viet Cong fired several shots.
Throneburg took a hit in his left shoulder and Nemo took one on his nose and lost his right eye.
Nemo still attacked the enemy, which gave Throneburg the precious minutes he needed to call in reinforcements.
After Throneburg fell unconscious, Nemo crawled on top of the soldier's body to protect him from harm.
And there Nemo lay, guarding his handler.
Throneburg recovered from his wounds and received two Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star medal.
Nemo recuperated at the air base before retiring from active duty.
Nemo returned to the US as the first-ever sentry dog to officially retire from active service.
Yet, his service to his country did not end there.
Nemo became the face of the K9 Corps, and helped recruit thousands of dogs into military service.
Nemo passed away in 1972.
His permanent gravestone is inscribed with his name, serial number, and a reminder of his heroic exploit:
On May 2, 2011, two stealth helicopters flew from Afghanistan into Pakistan on a secret mission
called Operation Neptune Spear to raid the compound of Osama bin Laden.
Perhaps the most astonishing detail to emerge from the raid was the presence a most unusual soldier.
A dog named Cairo, a Belgian Malinois who'd gone through the canine equivalent of SEAL training.
When the Black Hawk helicopter landed, Navy Seal and K9 handler Will Chesney
unleashed Cairo to search the perimeter for bombs and escape tunnels while SEALs invaded inside the compound.
After a ten year hunt, Bin Laden, the most notorious terrorist in the world, was found and killed.
Cairo kept the crowd outside at bay while the SEALs grabbed what intel they could
- documents, computers, videotapes and photos.
Thirty-six hours later, the SEALs were back in the US, meeting with President Obama.
Until that moment, Obama hadn't known that Cairo existed.
Every Navy SEAL got a Silver Star for the Bin Laden raid except Cairo.
Though little is known about the exact actions of Cairo during the operation,
he was the only military dog to be part of one of the biggest military operations in modern history.
Today, there is a huge demand for military dogs.
So, the American Kennel Club has formed the “Detection Dog Task Force”
to examine how to assist with this national security issue.
So? What is the future like?
How about handling a dog by remote?
Yep it's a ROBOT Dog.
It runs on batteries instead of dog chow.
At this point, it's not bomb detection duty.
Their primary mission is surveillance and patrolling in strategic locations.
March 13th is recognized as National K-9 Veterans Day,
honoring American military working dogs who have served and sacrificed since World War Two.
Let us never forget our War Dog Heroes.
If you liked this video honoring our war dogs, please subscribe to our channel
and leave a comment below.
We salute all military working dogs for their service in the name of freedom.
If history can be taught with stories
they can never be forgotten.
Please like our video
subscribe to our channel
and ring the bell to stay informed on the latest video.
And don't forget to leave your comments and suggestions below for what markers you want to see next.