Transcripts For CSPAN3 U.S. Military Animals In World War II

Animals throughout the war. 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 was 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 cap nearly 80,000 after world war i. As the u. S. Military became warm recognize, 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 mules. A pack mule should be a certain height and weight. He should be compact, stokley built and have a short, straight, well muscled back. Straight, strong legs and good feet. If that wasnt enough, mules were also picked on personality. They needed composure, quietness, calmness. 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. They were expected to train mules with positive reinforcement. They strictly prohibited things like sticks, switches or items that might instill fear in the mule. All of the mules were trained to be ridden, lead, stand quietly, or walk, stand fully packed, move in a herd, swim, and they also had to be immersed in the sounds of battle. Battle inoculation was key to making sure the mules did not panic when they encountered loud noises. They would be in and around motor parks that would allow them to become familiar with the smell of gasoline and sound of engines. The animals learned that the noises around them would not hurt them and as a result, when they encountered them, they remained calm. In all units, the most welltrained mule was deemed the bell mare and lead pack mule could she 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 at 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. Mules 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 battalion, 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 of2 longrange penetration units that fought behind japanese lines in burma. 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 was inducted in the army on september 23, 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 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. The rapid unpacking of the artillery and keeping 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 calcutta in september 1944. They went on a boat with mules with them. 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 airdrop speared 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 feed. 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, one 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 is a basic tool of military and police work that we hardly question their ability to smell bombs or drugs or the prosciutto you are not supposed to bring back from europe. 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 successfully in world war i. The french and belgians, germans, messengers, medics and pack animals. But there was some forward thinking that felt the u. S. Military should undertake a war Dog Training Program. They really were able to perceive some of the ways dogs could be useful in combat and noncombat situations. One of the first things they had to do was recruit dogs. In 1942, dogs for defense was formed, and everyday people would volunteer their own docs for service. With those dogs cleared in Health Checks and intelligence checks, they were sent on to be trained as war dogs. You could support the war dog fund financially as well as volunteering your dog. We have a couple of dog tags. As well as certificates for donating to the fund. There were four main types of war dogs. Scouts and sentry dogs, messenger dogs, attack dogs, and roving dogs. There were also mine detection 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 viewed 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 docs 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. You could support the war dog fund financially as well as volunteering your dog. We have a couple of dog tags. As well as certificates for donating to the fund. There were four main types of war dogs. Scouts and sentry dogs, messenger dogs, attack dogs, and roving dogs. There was also a fifth type. Mine detection dogs. Today we think of that as a basic element of what working dogs do, but at the outset of the program, no one realize they realized 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, similarly, or also victims of 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. There were some time sometimes used as a supplement to a guard dog or if someone who was a threat to a guard. But the real heart of the Dog Training Program was sentry dogs. All of the dogs were trained to the 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 to 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. Only a small canister around the a pouch tied around the body of the dog. They were the only dogs trained with two handlers. This way 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. Caesar was with n company of the third marine raider battalion. Their job was to hold a roadblock. 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. Caesar was not only an accomplished messenger dog, but also valuable as a sentry dog. Three days into the campaign caesar rushed out of the foxhole. Mayo called the dog back. As he was returning japanese , a sniper shot caesar. A firefight ensued, but caesar had disappeared. He was later found with his other handler. The bullet hit too close to his heart to operate, but despite his wounds, caesar 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. But it is really the scout or roving patrol dogs that changed the way the military and serviceman 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 it 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 marines and soldiers. You get one instance like i described with caesar, and they often did earn the respect of those around them. You can see some doberman pinschers here, often used by the marine corps in the pacific. By having the dogs head of the ahead of the column, they would then be able to sense an enemy presence before the main body of the soldiers or marines would walk through. So, kurt was a doberman pinscher whose bravery saved the lives of 250 marines on guam. To japanese soldiers lying in wait. Was alan gibson. They killed two japanese soldiers before a shell exploded near them. The japanese soldiers were part of a much larger force, and kurts discovery kept them from stumbling directly into the main body. Unfortunately, the shell exposed kurts a section out of back and surgery was impossible. 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 this monument that stands there with the names of many other dogs gave their lives for that liberation. Dogs for defense obtained 18,000 dogs during the three years they it was in charge of procurement. In all, over 10,000 dogs were trained for war and nearly 3000 dogs were sent overseas. Dogs proved to be an invaluable resource in the pacific and the home front. When the dogs were recruited, the owners were promised if they made it through the war, they would be returned. And that promise proved difficult to fulfill. The army did not anticipate the hours of training and demilitarization training it would cost to fulfill such a promise. But the dogs were given that demilitarization training and sent home. So, homing pigeons, believe it or not, we still used pigeons in world war ii. One of the oldest means of Long Distance communication, or widely used. They are a specific type of domestic pigeon derived from the rock pigeon and not like the sort of pharaoh pigeons any of us are familiar with in our cities. Believe it or not, the earliest use of pigeons for communications was with 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 with the Army Signal Corps. During the war Carrier Pigeons were used in almost every theater by almost every army, axis and ally. About a dozen pigeon units were activated during the war and the Army Signal Corps 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, in 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. However, even if the army moved toward total mechanization, the as theymained valuable were 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 when troops were under orders for radio silence. Pigeons were part of Work Communications when communication by wire was impossible. There were also equally important for paratroopers who frequently 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 eight bird container. That would be dropped by parachute. They had to be dropped in the containers or they would fly home. The soldiers could collect pigeons, attach the messages, and then send them back with communication. Since they were so successful, very few of these messages were encoded. They were so dependable at returning home that they did not worry about the messages getting into enemy hands. Although their talents are wellknown, the truth is we dont know a lot about how pigeons always managed to know how to go home. We do know that it takes, it really does start with training at a young age. And that there has to be the loft can be moved to new locations and the bird taken 100 of miles away and despite the new location and sometimes even the lofts new location, the bird will return. So how do they do that . If you will go to the next one. Ok. First, young homing pigeons are purchased or hatched in a loft and this is their permanent home, a place they will always return to. They are weaned here and gradually allowed to fly short distances around the loft, and when they return, they get to eat. Gradually this instills that pavlovian mechanism that if i do this, i get food. Then they are taken different distances and dropped off, or tossed, as they say, to fly home. They start half a mile, a mile, 2, 3, five, ultimately getting up to 250 miles. Once they come home to the loft, easily, then they start to move the loft as well as taking the bird different distances. They will start out by releasing several pigeons together so they can all fly home together. Then taking it down until they are flying home in pairs. This is also when they will attach the capsule and get them used to flying with the message cap tool on their leg capsule on their leg. All of this training was actually designed to prevent the Field Artillery<\/a> battalion, 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 of2 longrange penetration units that fought behind japanese lines in burma. 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<\/a> 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 was inducted in the army on september 23, 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 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. The rapid unpacking of the artillery and keeping 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 calcutta in september 1944. They went on a boat with mules with them. 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 airdrop speared 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 feed. 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, one 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<\/a> until world war ii. We think of dogs today is a basic tool of military and police work that we hardly question their ability to smell bombs or drugs or the prosciutto you are not supposed to bring back from europe. 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 successfully in world war i. The french and belgians, germans, messengers, medics and pack animals. But there was some forward thinking that felt the u. S. Military should undertake a war Dog Training Program<\/a>. They really were able to perceive some of the ways dogs could be useful in combat and noncombat situations. One of the first things they had to do was recruit dogs. In 1942, dogs for defense was formed, and everyday people would volunteer their own docs for service. With those dogs cleared in Health Checks<\/a> and intelligence checks, they were sent on to be trained as war dogs. You could support the war dog fund financially as well as volunteering your dog. We have a couple of dog tags. As well as certificates for donating to the fund. There were four main types of war dogs. Scouts and sentry dogs, messenger dogs, attack dogs, and roving dogs. There were also mine detection 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 viewed 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<\/a> was sentry dogs. All of the docs 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. You could support the war dog fund financially as well as volunteering your dog. We have a couple of dog tags. As well as certificates for donating to the fund. There were four main types of war dogs. Scouts and sentry dogs, messenger dogs, attack dogs, and roving dogs. There was also a fifth type. Mine detection dogs. Today we think of that as a basic element of what working dogs do, but at the outset of the program, no one realize they realized 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, similarly, or also victims of 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. There were some time sometimes used as a supplement to a guard dog or if someone who was a threat to a guard. But the real heart of the Dog Training Program<\/a> was sentry dogs. All of the dogs were trained to the 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 to 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. Only a small canister around the a pouch tied around the body of the dog. They were the only dogs trained with two handlers. This way 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. Caesar was with n company of the third marine raider battalion. Their job was to hold a roadblock. Because of the dense foliage, radios were unable to send or receive signals, and caesar provided a Vital Communications<\/a> link and completed 11 messenger missions. Caesar was not only an accomplished messenger dog, but also valuable as a sentry dog. Three days into the campaign caesar rushed out of the foxhole. Mayo called the dog back. As he was returning japanese , a sniper shot caesar. A firefight ensued, but caesar had disappeared. He was later found with his other handler. The bullet hit too close to his heart to operate, but despite his wounds, caesar 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. But it is really the scout or roving patrol dogs that changed the way the military and serviceman 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 it 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 marines and soldiers. You get one instance like i described with caesar, and they often did earn the respect of those around them. You can see some doberman pinschers here, often used by the marine corps in the pacific. By having the dogs head of the ahead of the column, they would then be able to sense an enemy presence before the main body of the soldiers or marines would walk through. So, kurt was a doberman pinscher whose bravery saved the lives of 250 marines on guam. To japanese soldiers lying in wait. Was alan gibson. They killed two japanese soldiers before a shell exploded near them. The japanese soldiers were part of a much larger force, and kurts discovery kept them from stumbling directly into the main body. Unfortunately, the shell exposed kurts a section out of back and surgery was impossible. 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 this monument that stands there with the names of many other dogs gave their lives for that liberation. Dogs for defense obtained 18,000 dogs during the three years they it was in charge of procurement. In all, over 10,000 dogs were trained for war and nearly 3000 dogs were sent overseas. Dogs proved to be an invaluable resource in the pacific and the home front. When the dogs were recruited, the owners were promised if they made it through the war, they would be returned. And that promise proved difficult to fulfill. The army did not anticipate the hours of training and demilitarization training it would cost to fulfill such a promise. But the dogs were given that demilitarization training and sent home. So, homing pigeons, believe it or not, we still used pigeons in world war ii. One of the oldest means of Long Distance<\/a> communication, or widely used. They are a specific type of domestic pigeon derived from the rock pigeon and not like the sort of pharaoh pigeons any of us are familiar with in our cities. Believe it or not, the earliest use of pigeons for communications was with 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<\/a> had begun ramping up its Communication Program<\/a> within with the Army Signal Corps<\/a>. During the war Carrier Pigeons<\/a> were used in almost every theater by almost every army, axis and ally. About a dozen pigeon units were activated during the war and the Army Signal Corps<\/a> 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, in 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. However, even if the army moved toward total mechanization, the as theymained valuable were 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 when troops were under orders for radio silence. Pigeons were part of Work Communications<\/a> when communication by wire was impossible. There were also equally important for paratroopers who frequently had little or no Radio Communications<\/a>. 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 eight bird container. That would be dropped by parachute. They had to be dropped in the containers or they would fly home. The soldiers could collect pigeons, attach the messages, and then send them back with communication. Since they were so successful, very few of these messages were encoded. They were so dependable at returning home that they did not worry about the messages getting into enemy hands. Although their talents are wellknown, the truth is we dont know a lot about how pigeons always managed to know how to go home. We do know that it takes, it really does start with training at a young age. And that there has to be the loft can be moved to new locations and the bird taken 100 of miles away and despite the new location and sometimes even the lofts new location, the bird will return. So how do they do that . If you will go to the next one. Ok. First, young homing pigeons are purchased or hatched in a loft and this is their permanent home, a place they will always return to. They are weaned here and gradually allowed to fly short distances around the loft, and when they return, they get to eat. Gradually this instills that pavlovian mechanism that if i do this, i get food. Then they are taken different distances and dropped off, or tossed, as they say, to fly home. They start half a mile, a mile, 2, 3, five, ultimately getting up to 250 miles. Once they come home to the loft, easily, then they start to move the loft as well as taking the bird different distances. They will start out by releasing several pigeons together so they can all fly home together. Then taking it down until they are flying home in pairs. This is also when they will attach the capsule and get them used to flying with the message cap tool on their leg capsule on their leg. All of this training was actually designed to prevent the Birds Association<\/a> with its home loft in one 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 d themselves during the war. On the left is yank. When american soldiers stormed indonesia, yank was released with the message of victory. He flew back to headquarters at algeria 98 miles away. Lady astor is the pigeon on the right, and she 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 attack. Many feared an attack. These fears were not unfounded. The japanese did launch over balloon bombs with a few hundred 9000 reaching north american chores. Japanese ships were spotted and german uboats interrupted shipping in the atlantic and gulf of mexico. Military authorities felt was only a matter of time before axis forces attempted landing operations, even if the landings were not on a grand scale. Skirmishes could create a lot of panic and fear in the United States<\/a>. Ultimately it became the responsibility of the coast guard to protect and defend americas coastline. German uboats had sank ships, and the fear of their landing saboteurs on american soil called for increased vigilance. Believe it or not, hiller had a plan in place to create a sense of unease and panic in the u. S. He was really eager to prove to the United States<\/a> that despite our physical distance from the war in europe, americans were still vulnerable. Soon after the declaration of sabotage scheme to begin. Its ultimate goal was to land one or two teams of saboteurs every six weeks or so to create a network of spies and saboteurs in the u. S. The operation started with the launching of two submarines in may of 1942. Fourintime fourman team. Each carried a team that would sneak onto american beaches. They were equipped with four waterproof wooden crates with materials to create explosions. There were also given Something Like<\/a> 50,000 american dollars for expenses and bribes. The u584 team landed without incident just south of jacksonville, florida. One walked along route where they caught a bus into jacksonville. The second team landed on june 12 in new york. Managedrowed ashore and to change their close. They were halfway through their crates when one of their team members, who we will see in the picture, spotted a coast guard men on patrol. He climbed over a dune to approach and claimed his friends were stranded. It was offered to take him to shelter at a coast guard station and it was declined. The man grew suspicious. Offered him a bribe. , ultimately armed only with a flashlight took the bribe and walked away. As soon as he was in the fog, he ran back to his coast guard station. This is john colin. He gathered others at the coast guard station and headed back to the beach. And his team were gone. They had managed catch a train to new york city. Buy 10 30 that evening the explosives were located and brought to the coast guard commander and fbi. Eventually all eight of the saboteurs were captured. The first attempt failed, 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. Military authorities that realized the coast guard needed better support and preparation to prevent things like this from happening. No animals were present at the landings, but it made clear that the speed of a horse and the keener senses of the dark wood would enhance 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. Therefore the u. S. Army mounted branch sent thousands of horses to the coast guard for use on the beach patrol. Most consisted of two men assigned to a two mile stretch of beach. The men walked the beach together. These patrols were also tasked with keeping a vigilant eye on the ocean. Often it was the beach patrolman with the first and only people to give assistance when an incident such as a beach fire, plane crash, or shipwreck occurred. They became the eyes and ears of the u. S. Navy and the u. S. Army. Horses were ideal for beach patrol. There speed allowed coast guard men to run down enemies. It also ensured that more help would be forthcoming. Often, since Radio Communications<\/a> 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 wheeze, was the louise, was directly related to the swiftness and alertness of a mounted coast guard patrol. It broke up in the Fifth District<\/a> near a coast guard station off the coast of north carolina. A mounted patrol spotted the first of 11 bodies that would wash ashore. There Quick Response<\/a> initiated search and rescue missions and actually saved two people from the shipwreck. In the eighth district near the texaslouisiana line in the swamp, Army Aviators<\/a> 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 difficult but 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 for sure patrol duties. 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 operation. These dogs were also required through dogs for defense. Will a few more minutes, so im going to touch on some more topics than i will take some of your questions. It is hard to believe that bats and spiders made a contribution to the war effort. Bats, there with this idea to use small incendiary bombs attached to bats to firebomb towns and villages. Basically, we wanted to take small bombs, strap them to bats, then let the bats out over enemy territory. They constructed a special kind of bomb to hold the bats, which is what you can see the picture of their. Rats would that the roost in the eaves of houses and when the bombs went off they would already be well in place. Smallwere these timedelayed bombs and they had to put the bat in a semihibernation state and they would gradually warm as they dropped out of the plans. It actually worked. It is most wellknown for burning down a new airfield. The fired not let crews in 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 them. One of them talks about how they were in a race against the manhattan project. Thats where they thought the bomb might be most helpful. Believe it or not, spiders. How do spiders contribute to a war effort . For a long time, since the 1800s, scientists have been using spider silk in their optical equipment. Because spider silk is so fine that the strands allow for better focus. The upsurge in production of military instruments like sites and scopes meant that more silk was needed. People around the country would collect silk from spiders and even sometimes splitting it into finer threats. Then they would sell it to the military to be used in instruments. What struck me as the most interesting part of this is that , of course, the best silk came from the black widow spider. Soldiers at fort knox would be sent out to collect silk from the spiders. Lastly, 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. So with that, if you will go one more. Shout out to my dog downstairs sleeping, and to felix, who is lindsays dog. Our two buddies who helped write the book. I will take some questions. Stephen asks, in london, england. There is a monument to animals in the war. Are there similar monuments in the United States<\/a> . There is nothing that they can the United States<\/a>. There are smaller monuments. What is the most unusual use of an animal that i discovered . I would say probably the bats. The spiders makes sense because it had been around before, but the idea that bats are going to be doing major firebombing was the most surprising thing to me. Asks, what are the main breeds of dogs used . Believe it or not, initially, any dog of a proper size could be used. I will post a chart in the facebook later that shows all of the breeds accepted. Basically anything in the medium to large sized range. But it was actually 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 actually kind of skittish. The doberman society had gifted a lot of dogs to the marine corps, and that is why they are associated. But it turns out the dobermans dont make the best war dogs. But a lot of shepherds do. 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 s dying and the dog guarding the defending the body. It would depend on the personality of the dog. They might bond with another handler, typically they would have to go back for retraining. They are going faster than i can see. [laughter] do i have a sense of the fatality rate of dogs or pigeons . I dont. Hard, ands are really the dogs to a certain extent, there probably are some numbers and i can post those in the facebook too. I dont remember off the top of my head. Brian wants to know, what do the pigeons do on a submarine . Similar to how they would be dropped out of aircraft. You could 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 submarine. The location of other submarines, the locations of ships, which they did not want to use radios for because they could give away their location. What about cats . Of course. Cats are typically just mascots and pets. Like i said, very important. So, we certainly do appreciate them. I knew i was going to 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 when the last horseman calvary charge took place . Yes, i did. In the philippines. The horse chapter in the book is actually split into two. The coast guard and then this last mounted calvary charge story. Thats a great story about the fighting in the philippines and how the drawback they took to get everybody down into the Bataan Peninsula<\/a> only to be marched back up. Lieutenant ramsey was the leader of that charge. He actually escaped the japanese and fought as a guerilla. That is a fascinating story. I highly recommend the book lieutenant ramseys or. What about elephants in burma . I couldnt cover all of them and this was mostly talking about the u. S. Militarys use of animals. Elephants could also be 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, goes to guadalcanal and saw lots of animals he had never seen before. Lot of octopus and elephants and water buffalo and things like that. There was a whole chapter mostly just of 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 all that. But they took them away. It is a contentious story. It is also in the book. But there is a metal called the dicken metal, which is a british society. They offer metals to animals who have acted in brave ways. You can read about them. Some of the pigeons i talk about earned the dicken metal. What did demilitarization training look like for dogs . Part of what the dogs were trying to do was be aggressive, so they had to get out of that aggressive mode. That was really the only thing that could keep you from graduating to go home, if you continued to stay too aggressive. I think there is only a case of that happening once or twice. People, you know, combat is difficult. There were definitely dogs that suffered from stress. They needed time to feel safe and back in a totally different environment, a home environment, versus a battle environment. Lieutenant putney wrote a great book and he talks about the demilitarization of dogs. Lets see. About dogs and animals getting ranks. Yes, they did get a rank. Their rank was always one above their handler. Handler got promoted, the dog brought got promoted one up. Of, you arey style always, that rank matters. If your dog outranks you, you owe it a level of respect. Any labrador retrievers used . Yes, i am sure. I cant think of a story of the off the top of my head, but they were 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 kind of 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 of it or stories of it, so we left it out of the book overall. Lets see. Ok, yeah. Lojack the bear used by the polish. Yes. Again, American Animals<\/a> used for this book. We could not cover the bear. We did talk about it in the larger exhibition we had, because we also in also talked about the german use of horses. Does the military still use dogs . Yes, very much so. Were newfoundlands used . Probably. There were one of the breeds that was acceptable. Ok, i think thats pretty much all of the questions. Unless i see any others. Looks good. Ok. Well, thank you all very much and i really appreciate you taking the time to listen to me talk about loyal horses. If you have questions, feel free to put them on the facebook. [captions Copyright National<\/a> cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] you are watching American History<\/a> tv, covering history, cspan style with event coverage, eyewitness accounts, archival films, lectures, and visits to museums and historic places. All weekend, every weekend on cspan three. The cspan cities tour travels the country exploring the american story. We have been to more than 200 communities across the nation. Like many americans, our staff is staying close to home due to the coronavirus. Next, a look at one of our city tour visits. The george h. W. Bush president ial library and museum received film footage of president and misses bush on their honeymoon in sea island, georgia. Donated by the children of another couple honeymooning there at the time, this is the first time the footage has been seen by the public. So, the bushs honeymoon at the cloisters. 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