I will talk about for main animals today and if we have some time, i will try to get in some other fun topics as well. We will talk about mules, dogs, pigeons and horses. We will go to the first slide on mules. Although they are often looked down upon because of their stubborn natures, the phrase tough as a government mule is one we are probably familiar with. They are hardworking and widely used in the military before world war ii and during the war. They really did prove vital in some areas. Why use mules . They have a sturdy nature and are very surefooted. They were vital on some of the rugged terrains and by military vehicles. They require less grain than horses and are a more dependable work animal. They are quite intelligent, which is contrary to popular belief. It is there intelligence that helps them recognize their own limits of strength and endurance. The quality sometimes read as stubbornness is a form of selfpreservation. Unlike horses, mules will not work themselves to death. During world war i, the army used mules by the hundreds of thousands and kept nearly 80,000 after world war i. As the u. S. Military became recognized, the use of mules declined. But as the troops were working through the terrain of north africa and italy, and in china and burma, mules would prove vital and the army would procure local mules in italy and buy 14,000 more during the war. According to a manual, this is what it says about a good mule. A pack mule should be a certain height and weight. Usually from 1000 1200 pounds, he should be compact, stop ole built and have a short, straight, well muscled back. Large barrel with a deep birth, straight strong legs and short pass turns and good feet. If that wasnt enough, mules were also picked based on personality, they needed to have composure, quietness, columnists. These traits were also important you would have hundreds of mules moving together to narrow pathways and in intimidating jungles. The u. S. Military selected mule handlers based on whether they were kind and firm. Handlers were expected to be patient and kind and firm. They were instructed to train the meals with positive reinforcement, reward them with pending and hand feeding when they acted the right way. They strictly prohibited things like sticks, switches or item items that might instill fear in the new law. All of the meals were trained to be ridden, to be led, to stand quietly, to walk, to stand fully packed, move in a herd, swim and finally, they also had to be immersed in the sounds of battle. Battle inoculation was really key to making sure that the meals did not panic when they encountered some loud noises. So they would be worked in and around loud parks that they could become familiar with the sound and smell gasoline and engines, there around noises like low flying aircraft and enemy fire. The enemies the animals learns that the noises around them would not hurt them and as a result, when they encountered them they would remain calm. Them, they remained calm. In all units, the most welltrained mule was deemed the bell mare and lead pack mule wore a special bell and the other mules were trained to follow the bell. They actually used the pack saddle you see in this photograph. It was used for all kinds of pack loads, artillery, equipment, even ones that were the heaviest weapons cargo loads as well. By itself, it weighs 72 pounds, and when you would the attachments it would take for the different kinds of loads, it could weigh 95 pounds alone. It can hold up to 300 pounds of cargo. 300 mules carrying 300 pounds each, one pack unit could carry 45 tons, a lot of material. During world war ii, mules worked around the world. They served in africa and italy, but formed the decisive backbone in the chinaburmaindia theater. This was one of the most geographically challenging in world war ii. It was a placemules proved themselves even more versatile than a jeep. The first pack unit were a really successful and selfsufficient military unit. Selfsufficient because the cargo loads they supported in the Field Artillery battalions, they had traveling medical and veterinary units. It was really the ultimate proof of the animalss importance and a mechanized army, because the mobility of the mules in rough terrain was more important than speed. If you follow the white line in the photograph, you can see how long the mule train is in the jungle. The task force was the second of 2 longrange penetration units that fought behind japanese lines in burma jungles. The job was to function behind the lines deep in the jungles of the mountains of southwest asia and protect and keep chinese supply routes going. The u. S. Really wanted to continue to keep Japanese Forces occupied in china as much as they possibly could. From any vantage, this terrain was intimidating, and it was impossible for most motorized vehicles to cross. These strong, surefooted mules were needed to carry artillery on the mountain trail, sometimes in single file like the previous picture. The only way these men could operate behind enemy lines was they received supplies by airdrop. You can see parachutes falling here. Except for these planes, these were the only mechanized transportation available. These mules were the only reliable means of movement and supplies. Sorry, can you go back no, stay where you are. We have something in our collection from hiram boone. He went to work in a gun factory and then at the age of 22 he decided to join the armor, he was inducted in the army on september 23rd, 1943. He was first sent to oklahoma for basic training and artillery training. He worked specifically with the 75 millimeter pack howitzer and mules. He moved on to oklahoma where he joined a field battalion and was assigned to the headquarters and service battery. Here he did further training with the pack howitzer and mules. As they prepared for burma, they did not know where they were headed but they knew it was mountainous conditions. They trained really specifically in the rapid unpacking of the artillery and piecing it together for combat. The history we have with him, he said a gun could be unloaded in a matter of minutes and be in firing position. They trained really hard to get that down. They reached caluctta in september 1944. They went on a boat with mules with them. From that elastic port until they got to india, 63 days across the atlantic, through the mediterranean, the suez canal, the red sea and indian ocean before they arrived in india. They spent a lot of time with these animals on this boat. His job in the field was to collect ammunition, food and other supplies from the airdrops, he had to be in a certain location on a given day to reach the goods before japanese found them. All of the supplies were loaded onto the pack mules to be carried out of the drop zone. Artillery, ammunition, including the 75 millimeter artillery rounds, and rations were dropped by parachute. It was packed loosely enough it would not burst on impact, the mule feet. Feed. This all came from the United States and work airdropped from planes. His personal riding mount was his mule, chick. They traveled together all the way to china. Boone groomed him every day in addition to other duties. He said of the mules, they are smart, much smarter than horses. They will not over drink, overeat, overwork. They are superior and rough terrain to a horse and actually smarter than a horse. He held them in good regard. At the end of the war, the mules were slated to be handed over to the chinese military, but many of them had contracted a fatal disease. They had to be put down. Boone said at the end of his oral history, i did want to praise this mule and i frankly think mules and other animals did not receive and have not received the recognition they are entitled to because they all paid the supreme sacrifice. We also have some of the pictures you saw in the presentation, ones boone himself took and donated to the museum. It was really amazing to me when i started to do the research for the exhibition and ultimately the book, that i learned about the u. S. Not having a War Dog Program until world war ii. We think of dogs today as a really basic tool of military in police work, that we hardly question their ability to use small bombs or drugs or prosciutto that you werent supposed to bring back from europe. But at the start of the war, the u. S. Only had sled and pack dogs in the military. Other countries in europe had been using dogs pretty successfully in world war i by the french and the belgians, germans as messengers, medics and pack animals. But there was some really forward thinking, military came in and of tuesday as tiktok and felt that dog should undertake award Dog Training Program. So they were really able to oversee some of the ways that dogs could be useful in combat and non combat situations. One of the first things that they had to do was recruit dogs. In 1942, dogs for defense was formed. Believe it or not, everyday people would volunteer their people for the service. If they cleared the intelligence tests, he were sent on to be trained as were dogs. From he can also see here he could support the war dogs fund financially as well as volunteering your dog, we have a couple of dogs for the war dog fund. As well some certificates for warm there are four main types for the war dog effort needed. Scouts and century dogs, messenger dogs, scale talks, roving dogs and there was also a fifth title, mind attraction dogs. Today we think of that as a basic element of what working dogs do, that at the outset of the program, no one realize they could train dogs to smell for explosives. They were trained to look for disturbances on the ground. This did not work very well and the program was deemed a failure. Attack dogs were also victim to a bad program. They did not use positive reinforcement, they were trained with negative methods. They did not turn out to be a big success as the military had hoped. They were sometimes used as a supplement to a guard dog or if someone who was a threat to a guard. The real heart of the Dog Training Program was sentry dogs. All of the dogs were trained to be sentries, but some dogs got more extensive training in other areas. The overall training was less intense than other working dogs. They needed to be moderately intelligent, willing, and somewhat aggressive. Sentry dogs were trained to accompany military and civilian patrols in various conditions and to give a warning through barking or growling at the approach of another person. Probably something that many of us are familiar with is the use of dogs as messengers. Messenger dogs could carry a message four or five times faster than a soldier on foot. Dogs have a much lower profile than humans, making them harder to locate and more challenging to shoot. The equipment the dogs needed was minimal, just a small canister around the neck or, as you see in this photograph, a pouch around the body of the dog. They were the only dogs trained with two handlers, so the dog would know who to seek out to deliver the message. One of the most famous war dogs was the messenger dog caesar. He was a german shepherd. He was with m company of the third marine raider battalion. Their job was to hold a roadblock on the trail. Because of the dense foliage, radios were unable to send or receive signals, and caesar provided a Vital Communications link and completed 11 messenger missions. He was not only an accomplish messenger dog he rushed out of a foxhole and was called back. As he was returning, a japanese sniper shot caesar. A firefight ensued but he had disappeared. He was later found with his other handler. The bullet hit too close to his heart to operate, but despite his wounds, he survived and returned to duty three weeks later. Although injured and scared, his loyalty to his handlers saved him and warned others of how close the japanese soldiers were. It is really the scout or roving patrol dogs that changed the way the military and servicemen thought about dogs in the military. These dogs were some of the most highly trained in the military, used primarily in the pacific. They would walk up to 25 yards in front of a column of marines or soldiers and when they sensed an enemy soldier, they would give a signal or alert to its handler. The signal or alert was key, because it had to be silent. Handlers and dogs were paired together during basic training, and they spend their whole military lives together essentially because the dog and handler had to know each other very well and have a lot of trust in one another. There are a lot of stories about dog men being made fun of by other soldiers. You get some stories like i will tell, and they did earn the respect of those around them. You can see some dorman pictures here, often used by the marine corps in the pacific. By having that dogs go out ahead of the calm, they would be able to sense that enemy president s before the main body of the soldiers or marines would walk through. Kurt was a doberman pinscher who saved the lives of 250 marines on guam. He alerted of japanese soldiers lying in wait. His handler they killed two japanese soldiers before a mortar shell exploded near them. The japanese soldiers were part of a much larger force, and kurts discovery kept them from encountering the main body. Unfortunately, the shell exposed a large part of his back and surgery was impossible. He suffered for most of the day until he succumb to his wounds. His sacrifice led to his likeness being cast in bronze to memorialize all of the dogs that gave their lives for the liberation of guam. You can see the names of the other dogs that gave their lives for that liberation. Dogs for defense obtained 18,000 dogs during the three years they were in charge of procurement. In all over 10,000 dogs were trained for war and over 3000 sent overseas. Dogs proved to be an invaluable resource in the pacific and the home front. When the dogs were recruited, owners were promised that if their dogs were to survive the war there dogs would be returned to them. That promise was difficult to fill. The u. S. Military didnt that promise turned to be difficult to fulfill. The training cost made it difficult to fulfill the promise. But the dogs were given the demilitarization training and sent home. Homing pigeons, believe it or not, we still used pigeons in world war ii. One of the oldest means of Long Distance communications, and they were widely used. They are a specific type of domestic pigeon derived from the rock pigeon and not like the sort of feral pigeons we are used to in our cities. Believe it or not, the earliest use of pigeons for communications were the romans 2000 years ago. Their ability to carry important messages has not really diminished in that time. Even before japans attack on pearl harbor, the American Military had begun ramping up its Communication Program within the army signal corps, and during the war, Carrier Pigeons were used in almost every theater by almost every army, access and ally. About a dozen pigeon units were activated during the war and they had about 3000 soldiers assigned to the pigeon service. They cared for more than 54,000 pigeons and 36,000 of those were deployed overseas. The pigeons were used in all of the combat theaters and saw service with ground troops, on submarines, on bombers and with the intelligence service. Signal corps soldiers received more than 90 of the army messages sent by pigeons. That is a pretty good rate. Pigeons often had to accomplish their missions under difficult conditions. Bad weather, night flying, bullet showers, and even attacks from enemy birds of prey. Thousands of soldiers and airmen and sailors owe their lives to these small animals. In 1943, as a means of communication, they formed less than 1 of the signal corpss overall services, but as the army moved toward total mechanization, the birds were still considered valuable as an undetectable method of communication. They were used especially when other means of sending messages failed or were not feasible, such as radio failure or radio silence. Pigeons were part of Work Communications when communication by wire was impossible, such as on pacific islands. They were also important for paratroopers who often had little or no Radio Communications. Pigeons would bring news from the drop zone swiftly without revealing the location of the soldiers. Pigeons were dropped via specially made parachutes or inside bamboo boxes or containers, and you can see here an an eight bird container. They had to be dropped in the containers or they would fly home. Soldiers would attach messages and send them back with communication. Since they were so successful, few of these messages were encoded. They were so dependable at returning home, they did not worry about the messages getting into enemy hands. Although there talents are wellknown, the truth is we dont know a lot about how pigeons always managed to know how to go home. And we do know that it takes, it really does start with the training and a young age. And that has to be some that can be moved to new locations and the bird can be taken 100 miles away, and despite the new locations and sometimes even the lofts need location, the bird will return. How do they do that . First, lets go to the next one. Okay, first, young homing pigeons are purchase unhatched in aloft. This becomes their permanent home, the place it will always return to. There we need here and are gradually allowed to fly short distances and when they return they get to eat. Gradually this instills that mechanism, if i do this i get food. Then they are taken different distances and dropped off or tossed to drive home. Im up to you in getting up to 250 miles, once they come home back to that loft, easily that is. Then they actually start to move the loft as well as taking the bird different dick distances. Theyll start by releasing several pigeons together so they can all fly home together. And then taking it down until theyre just flying home in paris. This is also will no start to attach the capsule and get them used to flying with the message capsule on their lake. All of this training was actually designed to prevent the Birds Association with its home loft in a specific location. This way the birds could travel with advancing forces or aircraft, stay with them for multiple days if necessary, and when released, return to their home loft despite that the loft probably moved during the pigeons time away. So two pigeons who prove themselves during the war. On the left is yank. When american soldiers stormed tunisia, yank was released with the message of victory. He flew 98 miles away. Lady astor is the pigeon on the right, who also served in north africa and was sent with an urgent message. She completed a flight of 60 miles even after she had been shot by pellets which broke one of her legs and lost a lot of her feathers. She collapsed when she returned to her loft but was nursed back to health. So, horses. Probably another thing we are familiar with when it comes to military and police work. After the bombing of pearl harbor, americans on the mainland work on high alert of enemy attack. Many feared attacks on the Pacific Coast and east coast. The fears were not unfounded. The japanese released balloon bombs with a few hundred reaching u. S. Shores. Japanese ships were spotted off the coast of california. German uboats interrupted shipping in the atlantic and gulf of mexico. Military authorities thought it was only a matter of time before axis forces attempted landing operations, even if they were not on a grand scale. Small nuisance skirmishes could create a lot of panic and fear in the u. S. Ultimately it became the responsibility of the coast guard to protect and defend americas coastline. German uboats had sank ships, and the fear of the landing on american soil called for increased vigilance on the coast. Believe it or not, hiller had a plan in place to create a sense of unease and panic in the u. S. And he was eager to prove to the United States that despite our physical distance from the war in europe, americans were still vulnerable. Soon after the declaration of war, he ordered a sabotage to begin. It was called operation pesterings, its ultimate goal was to land one or two small teams of saboteurs in the u. S. To create at network of spies in the u. S. The operation started with the launching of two submarines in 1942. Each carried a team that would sneak onto american beaches. They were equipped with four waterproof wooden crates with materials to create explosions. They were also given Something Like 50,000 american dollars for expenses and bribes. The u584 team landed without incident near jacksonville, florida. They caught a Greyhound Bus into jacksonville. The second team landed on the beach near new york. They managed to change their clothes and were halfway through their crates when one of their team members, george dash, who you see in the picture, spotted a coast guard man on patrol. Dash climbed over a dune to approach the man and claimed his friends were stranded. It was offered to take him to shelter at a coast guard station and dash declined. The man grew suspicious. He was offered a bribe. So he took the bribe and ran away back to the coast guard station. This is john colin. He gathered other people to coast guard station. They grabbed weapons and head back to the beach but the team was gone. They had managed to catch a train to new york city. By 10 30 that evening, they were located and brought to the coast guard commander and fbi. Eventually all eight of the saboteurs were captured. So it failed but it was a close call for americans because one team had landed undetected. The need to protect and control americas vast coastline was more important than ever. The military authorities that realize the coast guard needed better support and preparation to prevent things like this from happening. No animals were present at the landings but make clear that the speed of a horse and the keener census of a dog would have enhanced the coast guard patrol. The coast guards need for horses was immediate. There was little time to acquire, train and allocate the animals. However, the decline of the armys use of horses resulted in a surplus of trained animals. The army sent thousands of horses to the coast guard for use on beach patrol. Most rituals consisted of two men assigned to a two mile stretch of beach. They walked to the beach together. They were also tasked with keeping a vigilant eye on the ocean. Often the beach patrolmen were the first and only people in an area to give assistance when an incident such as a beach fire, plane crash or ship wreck occurred. They became the eyes and ears of the u. S. Ab and u. S. Army. Horses were ideal for beach patrol. Their speed allowed coast guard men to run down enemies. It also ensured that more help would be forthcoming. Often since Radio Communications were not well established between stations, horses provided the fastest way to communicate. In one incident, the rescue of two people from a greek ship called the louise was directly related to the swiftness and alertness of a mounted coast guard patrol. It broke up in the Fifth District near a coast guard station, off the coast of north carolina. A mounted patrol spotted the first of 11 bodies that would wash ashore. Their search and rescue missions actually saved two people from the ship wreck. In the eighth district near the texas and louisiana line in the swamp, Army Aviators were rescued when their bomber crashed. They looked for help and ended up getting lost in the swamp. It was mounted coast guard crew who conducted a thorough search of the swamp and found all of the missing aviators. By june of 1943, almost 3000 horses were in use by the u. S. Coast guard, and almost all of these horses had come from the u. S. Army. Dogs were also important to shore patrol. Trained dogs could run down and attack unauthorized persons on beaches, and the beach patrol used about 2000 trained dogs in its operations. They were also acquired through dogs for defense. I want to touch on some topics and then i will take some questions. It is hard to believe that bats and spiders made a contribution to the war effort. Bats, there was an idea to use a small, incendiary bombs attached to bats to firebomb towns and villages. Basically we wanted to take small bombs, strap them to bats, and let the bats out over enemy territory. They constructed a special kind of bomb to hold the bats, which you see there. The idea was the bat would roost in the eaves of houses and the bomb would explode. There were these small time delayed bombs and they had to put the bat in a semihibernation state and they would gradually come to as they dropped out of the plans. It actually works. They are known for lighting up a brandnew airfield but could not let the fire crews and because of the secret nature of the program. It did not get launched in a fullscale way, it was only in testing. There are some great books about it and one of them talks about how they were in a race against the manhattan project. They thought thats where the bomb might be most helpful. Believe it or not, spiders. How did spiders contribute to the war effort . For a long time, since the 1800s, scientists have been using spider silk in optical equipment. Spider silk is so fine that the strands allow for better focus. The upsurge production of military instruments like microscopes, meant that more silk was needed. People around the country would collect silk from spiders and even sometimes weave it into finer threads and then sell it to the military to be used in instruments. What struck me as the most interesting part of this is that the best silk came from the black widow spiders. Soldiers at fort knox will be sent out to collect silk from the spiders. One more slide. I have to touch on pets and mascots because they were also a vital part of the war effort for many people. They offered a lot of comfort and companionship. With that, if you will go one more. Shout out to my dog downstairs sleeping, and to felix, who is lindsays dog, they are our buddies who helped write the book. I will take some questions. Stephen asked in london, england, there is a monument to the war. Is there a similar monument in the u. S. . Nothing that big in the u. S. , there are smaller monuments. Usually for specific animals or specific units that are doing that. But it is a beautiful memorial. I have been there. What is the most unusual use of an animal that i discovered . Probably the bat. The spiders i think makes sense, but the idea that bats would be firebombing was the most surprising thing to me. Someone asked, what are the main breeds of dogs used . Believe it or not, eventually initially, any dog of a proper size to be used. I will post a chart on the facebook later that shows all of the breeds accepted. Basically anything in the medium to large sized range. It was during the war that we discovered that shepherds and other dogs were the most suited for military service. Believe it or not, doberman pinschers are not great war dogs. They are skittish. They are often associated with the marine corps, but it turns out the dobermans dont make the best war dogs. Elaine asks if the handler was killed in action, would the dog be trained with another handler . Often the dogs were very loyal to their handlers. There are stories of the handler dying and the dog guarding the body. It would depend on the personality of the dog, they might on with another handler, but they would have to go back for retraining. They are going faster than i can see. Do i have a sense of a fatality rate of dogs or pigeons . I dont. The pigeons are really hard and the dogs to a certain extent, there are probably some numbers and i can post that on facebook. I dont remember off the top of my head. Brian says, what do the pigeons do on a summary . Similar to being dropped out of an aircraft, you can let them go off the coast or in the middle of the ocean and they would fly back to the home loft with what ever message needed to be sent from the summary. The location of other summaries, the locations of ships, which they did not want to use radios for because they could give away their location. What about cats . Cats are typically just mascots and pets. Like i said, very important. We certainly appreciate them. I knew i would cut it close on time and i do have one picture of a cat. I will post it on facebook. I have some other questions. Lets see. Someone says, i wonder if you are aware that the last when the last horseman calvary charge took place . Yes, it was in the philippines. The horse chapter in the book is split into two, used by the coast guard and the last mounted calvary charge story. Its a great story about fighting in the philippines and how the drawback they took to get everybody down into the Bataan Peninsula only to be marched back up. One man escaped the japanese and fought as a guerilla. I highly recommend his book, lieutenant ramseys war, its a great book if you have the chance. What about elephants in burma . I did not cover all of them, and this was mostly talking about the u. S. Military use of animals, but elephants were also used as pack animals. In the book we also have a chapter we call exotics, because i use the example of my grandfather who grew up in West Virginia probably had not been more than 50 miles away from the house he was born in and he went to guadal canal and saw lots of animals he had never seen before. Elephants and water buffalo and things like that. There was a whole chapter that is mostly just pictures. Would an animal be able to earn a medal . Yes and no. They initially allowed animals to be awarded things like purple hearts and things. They took them away. It is a contentious story. There is a medal by a british society, and they offer medal to animals who have acted in brave ways. Some of the pigeons i talk about earned that medal. What did demilitarization training look like for dogs . Because part of what they were trained to do was be aggressive, they had to get out of that aggressive mode. That was the only thing that could keep you from graduating to go home, if you continued to stay too aggressive. I think that only happened once or twice. Like people, it is difficult. There were definitely docs that suffered from stress from the battle conditions. They needed time to feel safe and to be back in a totally different environment, a home environment, versus a battle environment. Lieutenant putney wrote a great book where he talks about the demilitarization of dogs. Lets see. About dogs and animals getting ranks. They did get a rank. Their rank was always one above their handler. That is the typical military style. Rank matters. If your dog out ranks, you owe it a level of respect. Any labrador retrievers used . I am sure. I cant think of a story of the top of my head but they were definitely one of the breeds used during the war. Somebody asked, did they use dolphins . I looked that up when we were researching the book and it was unclear. It seems like dolphins have been used by the military since then for different things, but it wasnt really clear to me if we were doing any of that training during world war ii. We did not have any pictures or stories of it, so we left it out of the book overall. Lets see. Ok, and then lojack the bear used by the polish. Yes. American animals used for this book. We could not cover the bear. We talked about it the year before the book came out. The germans used more horses than anybody during the war. Does the military still use dogs . Very much so. Were newfoundlands used . Probably. They were one of the breeds that were acceptable. Ok, i think thats pretty much all of the questions. Unless i see any others looks good. Ok. Thank you all very much and i really appreciate you taking the time to listen to me talk about animals if you if you have questions, put them on facebook. Tonight a look back at the airline victories, with author and historian rick atkinson. 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the end of world war ii. Thats at 8 pm eastern. Enjoy American History tv, this weekend every weekend, on cspan 3. Youre watching American History tv, every weekend on cspan three explore our nations past. Cspan 3 created by americas Cable Television companies as a public service. The nazis surrender taillight foresees on may 8th, 19. Fortify the day is known as ve day, or victorian europe day. Up next, on American History tv, a conversation with rick atkinson, author of the guns at last light the war in western europe, 19441945,. Throughout the world throngs of people held the end of the bar for people. It is bipartisan, since hitler march into poland, years of suffering and death and sacrifice. Now, the war against germany is one