Dayton’s Dogs of War
The Army had no real plans for training dogs when the U.S. was thrown into WWII. However, the attack on Pearl Harbor and the fear of sabotage increased the interest in using dogs for sentry duty. With the rapid expansion of industrial plants and Army installations the potential damage that might be done by saboteurs was constantly mounting and precautionary measures were required. This need was further emphasized when German submarines began to operate in large numbers near the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, and landing of expert saboteurs loomed as a distinct possibility.
Steps were taken to establish a national organization to procure dogs for the war effort. Among the leaders of the movement were Mrs. Milton Erlanger, prominent dog breeder and exhibitor Arthur Kilbon, and Henry I. Caesar, who was elected as President of the newly formed organization, Dogs for Defense (DFD).
Each canine was given a physical examination. If passed, they were placed in a quarantine kennel for twenty-one days. After passing muster, the dog would then be tattooed on the left ear with a serial number for identification, this becoming their “dog tag.”
By the end of the war 10,425 dogs had passed training for some form of war work. These included a number from the Dayton area.
The first dog donated for service in the Dayton area was named, appropriately, Wright Rudder. “Ruddy” as he was called by the family, was a two-year-old pointer owned by Mrs. F. O. Carrol, whose husband was a brigadier general stationed at Wright Field.
That same week O. Lee Harrison donated his 2-year-old Labrador Retriever, named Duke of Magee Marsh; a tri-colored Collie, Skipper, was given to DFD by C. F. Simmons; and Mrs. Harry Stover donated her Doberman Pinscher, Hesta.
Mrs. William H. McHugh, of Alexander-Bellbrook Road, became chairman in charge of recruiting dogs for army work in the Dayton area. Mrs. McHugh was also co-director of the Cincinnati area of Dogs for Defense at the time. She claimed that watching the parting of the dogs and their owners was the worst part of her job. Some of the owners couldn’t bear to watch their dog leave, and would stay away from home until she had taken the dog away.
Emerson Robinson, son of Elizabeth Robinson, had a good reason for enlisting his German Shepherd, Rex. “I’m going to send him to the Army and then when I’m old enough I’ll go, too.” exclaimed the eleven-year-old.
Emerson’s mother agreed with the decision. The rest of the Robinson family was involved in the war effort so it was only fitting that Rex should be, too. Besides a son in the Navy, two of her daughters worked at the “Fields” and she worked for the signal corps.
Mrs. P. W. Kline’s dog, Chip, was also selected to work for the Army.
“If you can give your son, you can give your dog, too,” was the way Mrs. Kline felt about sending 2 year-old Mr. Chips, an elegant Collie, to help in the war effort. Her son, Richard, was a seaman at Norfolk, Virginia, and, of course, he wanted his dog to go to the Navy, but stated that he was “mighty proud” that Mr. Chips would serve in the Army, his mother said.
Daytonians who owned dogs that were not qualified for service were offered another way to enlist their pets for service. The Journal-Herald newspaper began conducting a campaign for the War Dog Fund. Owners of dogs, and other pets as well, responded enthusiastically to the opportunity to let their pets share in the war effort. Pet owners made contributions that paid for an honorary rank for their “recruits”. Ranks ranged from private or seaman in any services including the women’s division, to four-star general or admiral of the fleet, depending on the size of the contribution. After enlistment the pet received a certificate denoting his rank in the War Dog Fund and a tag for his collar to show that he was a member. The contributions were used to help with the recruiting expenses involved in the selecting, kenneling and feeding of dogs before they reported for final examination and acceptance or rejection by the Army.
After the war, most of the dogs that survived were issued an honorable discharge from the K-9 Section and returned to their families.
Sidebar text:
Three-year-old Jill Brown’s dog, Heinz, was one of Dayton’s first dogs to go to war. Jill’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. James Brown, had purchased the Doberman Pinscher nearly five years earlier to act as a guard while Mr. Brown worked nights at the McCall corporation. The Browns admitted being sad that Jill would be losing a playmate that had helped guard her since she had been born.
“But Mr. Stover (Harry Stover, co-director of Dogs for Defense in the area at the time), said that Heinz would release five soldiers from guard duty, so we figured that he will do a lot more good in the Army,” said Mrs. Brown.
“Boy”, a Doberman Pinscher, was enlisted by his owner W. D. Canton. Boy eventually served as a Marine Corps war dog, and was sited several times for valorous service against the enemy at Peleiu in the Palau island group from Sept. 15 to Oct. 19, 1944. In early 1945 Canton received word that Boy had been injured in action on Okinawa. A picture was sent showing Boy and his handler, Corp. Harold N. Flagg, displaying a Japanese flag that had been captured from the enemy. Although Boy’s front left leg was bandaged at the shoulder, he was well enough to hold up one end of the flag in his teeth, while Flagg held the other corner.
Second Lt. Salvo, a one-year-old fox terrier, also made the news as a “para-pup” over in Europe. Salvo’s master overseas was Second Lt. R. Fletcher, a bombardier-navigator, whose wife worked at the Dayton Signal Corps Inspection Zone office. By May 1944 Slavo had over 300 hours in the air and had been on two operations in a Marauder medium bomber over Nazi Europe. The newspaper ran a photo of Salvo parachuting from a plane from 1500 feet in the air. Salvo also became a family man while on duty in England, his mate being Duchess, who was an Air-Corp mascot.
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