Canines have served man since they werefirst domesticated during pre-historic times, where they joined man’s hunting parties and stood watch over his camps at night. As history progressed, the bond between man and the dog strengthened, eventually they began to accompany man on to the field of battle. They are known as ;man;s best friend;, but are we really their best friends? We send them into war, and their;reward; for this is death.
Barely few know of the brave deeds they did during the wars. They are the War Dogs, America;s Forgotten Heroes, and this is their untold story. The role of the canine in modern warfare changed dramatically during World War I when the military began to train dogs to carry messages andfirst aid supplies to the troops at the front. World War II saw thefirst mass recruitment of dogs through the “Dogs For Defense” program. The donated dogs were trained for Sentry, Scout, Messenger, and Mine detection duty.
In the island hopping campaigns of the Pacific Theater the United States Marines mostly used Doberman Pincers for scout, sentry, and patrol duty. Worked on a short leash and were taught to give warning by growling, alerting or barking. The sentry dog teams mostly were members of Military Police units and patrolled the perimeters of the Army’s bases and installations in Vietnam. In Vietnam, Scout Dog Platoons were part of the Infantry.
Scout Dogs, trained to work in silence, provided early warning of snipers, ambushes, mines and booby traps, and other enemy forces in the immediate area. Scout Dog Teams were normally assigned the point position ( first in line) when on patrol. Combat Tracker dogs, usually Labrador Retrievers, were used to track and re-establish contact with the enemy after it had been broken and the enemy had fled. Were used to detect mines, booby traps and the tunnels used by the enemy as cover and sanctuary. At the close of the War there w…
