Honoring K9 Veterans and Their Handlers on K9 Veterans Day

 



Today is March 13th ~ K9 Veterans Day! A time to thank our many working dogs and their handlers—from military to police—who are now veterans.








According to the United States Army, "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, Lieutenant Colonel Clifford C. Smith, chief of the Plant Protection Branch, Inspection Division, Quartermaster Corps, met with his commander, Major General 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."
 
Most recently, I wrote an article for 4Knines on our U.S. canine veterans,, and if you follow me, I so honored to received the Dog Writers Assoication of America's special Brick American Legion Post 348 Captain William Judy Lewis Award for my article. You can click on the image below to read the article, which covers the history of this holiday.





Did You Know?  

Siberian Huskies and their cousin the Malamutes, were among the working breeds who served as war dogs during World War II?
 *
The War Dog Ambassador was a Siberian Husky named "Buck?"
 *
Siberian Huskies make wonderful Therapy Dogs?




"BUCK" THE WAR DOGS AMBASSADOR ~ DOD MARCH 23, 2006 
Photo courtesy of WarDogWall.com

"CHIPS" A WWII MILITARY WORKING DOG 
Photo by Herson Whitley. Permission Courtesy of Mary Ann Whitley.

It was my pleasure to connect to Herson Whitley's daughter, Mary Ann, who gave me permission to use her father's photo above of Chips, a Husky/German Shepherd/Collie mix, who was the first dog to ship overseas as a Military Working Dog in WWII. He belonged to the Wren Family from Pleasantville, NY. When WWII broke out, U.S. families volunteered their pet dogs into the service as part of the K-9 Corps. Overseas, he trained as a sentry dog and assigned to a Military Police platoon and traveled throughout Europe, and saw fighting in Africa and Sicily. While he served on many missions, he is best known for when he attacked enemy troops who were in a pillbox shelter in Sicily, and even though he was wounded himself, he rushed into the shelter and bravely fought by biting the enemy troops, until they surrendered. Chips even met General Eisenhower!  


 


If you'd like to learn more about Buck and the War Dogs, you can visit Buck's Heroes.  As many of you know from previous posts, Buck's Heroes is a beautiful book we purchased and have on our bookshelves here at the FiveSibes™ homestead and is a fitting book to read this K9 Veterans Day.


"When Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941,the United States inventory of military working dogs consisted of only 90 Siberian Huskies and Malamutes. These dogs were used as pack and sled dogs for rescue in areas of the world where motorized equipment could not go."  





The U.S. War Dogs Association is taking donations of much-needed items for our canine heroes working abroad. Please click HERE to see what is needed for care packages and  where to send them, and be sure to mention the FiveSibes sent you over!


In the past, my Epi-dog (now furangel) Gibson poses with the box of donations collected by The Empire State Snow Dog Club, of which I'm a proud member, and in front of the official U.S. War Dog Association poster!





FiveSibes Proudly Supports 
K9 Veterans Day!


© Dogs For Defense K-9 www.dfdk9.com
 
 
Via AwarenessDays.com

Relevant Hashtags

Spread the word, share stories of valor, or simply show your appreciation using these hashtags:


#K9VeteransDay2024
#FourLeggedHeroes
#ServiceDogSalute
#K9Corps
#DogsOfValor


K9 Veterans is being officially recognized by more and more states in the U.S. Talk to your state representative to have your state recognize this holiday. There is a petition to make K9 Veterans Day a national holiday and honor these brave canine service dogs. To sign the petition, please visit HERE.
 
 Want to Adopt a Military Working Dog?
 
 Did you know Patriot K9 Rescue has adoptable hero dogs?

As many of you know, I not only love writing, love dogs and horses, and love history, I'm also the proud daughter of a WWII hero. I love to share this photo of my Dad with two dogs he befriended on base. I'd like to send a special "Thank You" heavenward to my Dad. He was a TSGT and Silver Star recipient having served with the U.S. Army's "Big Red One" First Division, and then his second tour with the Rainbow Division, 16th Infantry during World War II.
 
 
 
Thank You to all the K9 Veterans and Their Handlers. 
 

 
 
 
 
 

Comments

  1. Brian's Home BlogMarch 14, 2024 at 7:32 PM

    There have been so many K9 heroes over the years, they all deserve our respect. Thanks for joining Angel Brian's Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!

    ReplyDelete

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