Man's Best Friends - True Stories of the World's Most Heroic Dogs. John McShane
waves and incoming fire to hug the sand. ‘Operation Husky’ was the largest amphibious invasion of the war at that time when more than 160,000 troops went ashore, Chips was among them.
At 04.20 on 10 July, with the sky softening over Sicily’s southern coast, Chips and his handler pushed inland from the beach. As man and dog approached a hut, it erupted with machine-gun fire. All the soldiers hit the ground but Chips broke free and, trailing his leash, sprinted towards the hut. Moments later, an Italian soldier staggered out, with Chips tearing at his arms and throat. Behind him were several other soldiers, their arms up. Chips’ handler called him off and seized the prisoners. But Chips had not come through unscathed: he had a small scalp wound. Powder burns on his coat suggested the enemy had fired at him point-blank, but he had taken the machine-gun nest. Later that day he helped his handler capture ten more prisoners. Soon he was hailed across America. Unlike other military heroes, however, Chips showed no respect for rank. When Dwight D. Eisenhower tried to pet him, he nipped the General’s hand!
For his actions during the war, Chips was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star for bravery and a Purple Heart for wounds received in action. On 19 November 1943, he was presented with the medals in a churchyard ceremony in Pietravairano, Italy. An excerpt from the citation reads:
For a special brand of courage arising from love of master and duty. Chips’ courageous act, single-handedly eliminating a dangerous machine-gun nest, reflects the highest credit on himself and the military service.
The awards were later taken away due to an army policy that prevents official commendation of animals and Chips had also broken the rules when he left his handler’s side. But his unit took matters into their own hands and unofficially awarded him a Theatre Ribbon with an Arrowhead for an assault landing and Battlestars for each of his eight campaigns.
In December 1945, Chips was discharged from the military and returned home to the Wren family. Sadly, he died just seven months later at the relatively young age of six due to complications from injuries sustained during the war. He was buried in the Peaceable Kingdom Pet Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. So remarkable were his exploits, though, that in 1990 Disney even based a TV movie around his life and deeds.
Decades passed after the ending of World War II, but the role of dogs in the military remained consistently important. The case of Fluffy in Iraq is a perfect example of this.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Russell Joyce and his unit needed a guard dog and a thin German Shepherd without a home fitted the bill perfectly. Joyce’s unit – 3rd Group, Special Forces, Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion – had used a dog to ward off intruders when stationed in Afghanistan and wanted another in Iraq, so they asked Kurdish soldiers in the area to search the streets for a suitable stray.
The Kurds came back bearing a gaunt German Shepherd with scars on his head and legs; he was also missing several teeth. He weighed 31lb and was about two years old. The obvious scars on his head and legs indicated he had previously been beaten. Visibly shaken, he spent his first night with the soldiers cowering in the corner.
‘What makes this dog so great is, look at the irony,’ said Joyce. ‘We took this dog from Iraq, we trained it and we used it for our own security. When we got him, he was pretty thin, he didn’t have much pep in his step and he was pretty scared – he literally didn’t move for a day.’
Since Joyce didn’t have any dog food, he fed the animal mutton, chicken and rice from his hand. He taught him basic commands such as heel and sit; also how to walk as a sentry dog – stay on the left side and near the handler. Within a couple of weeks, Joyce and his fellow soldiers noticed the dog was becoming aggressive to outsiders and on one occasion Fluffy chased a Kurdish soldier over a fence, tearing off his trousers. ‘It definitely looked after us,’ said Joyce. ‘If any American went to walk guard (meaning walk patrol), he would go right to their left side and he would stand right by them.’
He and Fluffy worked together until Joyce returned home from Iraq in 2003, but Fluffy was not allowed to travel to the States – he had not come from America in the first place. Now there was an even greater problem in store: unless a good Iraqi home could be found for the dog, he would have to be put down but Joyce was determined this would not happen. The dog stayed with the 506th Security Forces Squadron while the soldier began his campaign to be reunited with him.
Joyce started with emails and calls to the State Department, U.S. War Dogs Association President Ron Aiello and Monty Moore, a former Vietnam dog handler who runs a Web page dedicated to war dogs. ‘What I heard in his voice was something I had heard hundreds of times from former military handlers from the Vietnam era, who talk about their canines to this day and the love and devotion we have for them,’ Aiello said. ‘Russell had that same emotion about Fluffy.’ Inspired, Aiello wrote to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and at the same time devoted a whole page of his website to Fluffy.
Soon Joyce had received more than 1,500 emails inquiring about the situation and more than 30 US senators also contacted him to offer help. By the time Joyce called soldiers in Iraq to say the move to get Fluffy Stateside was well underway, the Pentagon had already contacted the squadron to ask about the dog. The military even found a way to gently bend its own guidelines to allow for Fluffy’s transfer when it designated him an honorary working military dog with honorary war dog status. Don Stump, an Army deputy division chief in Washington, D.C., helped in the process needing almost 30 different signatures to sign off on the transfer and bring a successful end to what supporters called ‘Operation Free Fluffy’.
‘It stirred me up when I thought about the selfless action and courage of Fluffy,’ said Stump. Meanwhile, Sgt. Joyce said he was relieved that the dog was able to join him. ‘I think that it’s a pretty great thing,’ he said. ‘A lot of people worked on this and it’s good that we’re finally getting some closure.’ He added that the support for Fluffy had been phenomenal, not only from civilians but also the military: ‘I went into a store today and somebody came up and shook my hand and said: “Thanks for what you’ve done – you’re doing the right thing.” It’s a lot of support not just for me but for our troops.’
Eventually, the US Army paid the $274 to fly Fluffy to North Carolina, where Joyce was reunited with his dog. ‘He’s doing great here,’ said Joyce. ‘He plays with my kids and he’s not shown any aggressive behaviour – we’re working to deprogram him.’
Caroline Joyce thought her husband must be joking when he first broached the subject of bringing the dog home. Although she and Fluffy have since become friends, it’s clear who he cares for the most. ‘The dog is fine with me but if my husband is around, he doesn’t want to have anything to do with me,’ said Caroline. ‘He just walks beside my husband and gazes at him all the time.’
Fluffy also won over the couple’s children: Sam, 12, and Elise, 6. ‘I don’t label him as a pet,’ said Sam. ‘I label him as a buddy.’
The three years that followed saw Fluffy raise money for the U.S. War Dog Association, a non-profit making outfit of former Vietnam War dog handlers and others who are establishing a memorial to the thousands of canines who have served – and died – alongside GIs in more than 80 years of US wars: ‘Russell and Fluffy have been a real boost to our organisation,’ said Ron Aiello.
Fluffy was also awarded honorary U.S. Military Working Dog status by the military, had dog treats named after him by a manufacturer, secured a spot in the Fort Benning National Infantry Museum and featured on an ‘America’s Top Dog’ TV programme. The family even wrote and illustrated a book about his life to help raise funds for the War Dog Association, animal shelters, rescue groups and others.
Sadly, Fluffy passed away on 16 October 2008, but not before he became a living memorial for Vietnam K9 Handlers and Vietnam War Dogs, enjoying a dignified life with his new family. As Joyce said: ‘Bringing Fluffy to the States isn’t about me – it’s about the men who weep on the phone while they talk about the relationship they had with the dogs who served with them in war.’
Another military German Shepherd saved his owner’s life in a remarkable manner while on a routine mission near Najaf, Iraq. Specialist