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N0KFQ > TODAY 13.03.14 17:02l 54 Lines 2437 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 15134_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Mar 13
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Sent: 140313/1500Z 15134@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.58
Mar 13, 1942:
U.S. Army launches K-9 Corps
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.
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.
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 Association 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 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 sheep
dogs, Doberman Pinschers, collies, Siberian Huskies, Malumutes
and Eskimo dogs. 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 sentry dogs, scout or patrol dogs, messenger dogs or
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. 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.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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