WBritain
Master Sergeant
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2005
- Messages
- 1,251
Here are a couple of photos of a new Jack Tars & Leathernecks addition-U.S. Marine handler with War Dog.
The U.S. Marine Corps’ war dog training program was initiated by a letter from the Commandant of the Marine Corps to the Commanding General, Training Center, Fleet Marine Force, Marine Barracks, New River, North Carolina (designated Camp Lejeune on 20 December 1942), dated 26 November 1942, directing the latter to “inaugurate a training program for dogs for military employment when personnel and material become available.
After the initial procurement of 62 dogs (42 of them from the Army), the Marine Corps received its dogs from various sources, including Dogs for Defense, Inc., the Doberman Pinscher Club of America, and from many individuals who wrote directly to the Marine Corps to offer their animals on a voluntary donation basis. Dogs accepted into the Corps had to be one to five years of age, of either sex, 25 inches high, and weighing a minimum of 50 pounds. Each dog was tested to make sure that he or she was not gun-shy or timid and was given a careful physical examination before acceptance by the Marine Corps.Marine Corps used war dogs in the Bougainville operation (1 November to 15 December 1943), Guam (21 July to 15 August 1944), Peleliu (15 September to 14 October 1944), Iwo Jima (19 February to 16 March 1945), and Okinawa (1 April to 30 June 1945) campaigns, in the mopping up operations on Saipan, and in the occupation of Japan. A number of dogs were cited for outstanding performance during the various operations in alerting enemy ambushes and positions, thereby saving the lives of many Marines.
The U.S. Marine Corps’ war dog training program was initiated by a letter from the Commandant of the Marine Corps to the Commanding General, Training Center, Fleet Marine Force, Marine Barracks, New River, North Carolina (designated Camp Lejeune on 20 December 1942), dated 26 November 1942, directing the latter to “inaugurate a training program for dogs for military employment when personnel and material become available.
After the initial procurement of 62 dogs (42 of them from the Army), the Marine Corps received its dogs from various sources, including Dogs for Defense, Inc., the Doberman Pinscher Club of America, and from many individuals who wrote directly to the Marine Corps to offer their animals on a voluntary donation basis. Dogs accepted into the Corps had to be one to five years of age, of either sex, 25 inches high, and weighing a minimum of 50 pounds. Each dog was tested to make sure that he or she was not gun-shy or timid and was given a careful physical examination before acceptance by the Marine Corps.Marine Corps used war dogs in the Bougainville operation (1 November to 15 December 1943), Guam (21 July to 15 August 1944), Peleliu (15 September to 14 October 1944), Iwo Jima (19 February to 16 March 1945), and Okinawa (1 April to 30 June 1945) campaigns, in the mopping up operations on Saipan, and in the occupation of Japan. A number of dogs were cited for outstanding performance during the various operations in alerting enemy ambushes and positions, thereby saving the lives of many Marines.