Tv we hurl from the National World war two the merica animals of world war ii. She highlights the meals, dogs, patients who are integral part of this war effort. Thanks for joining us today. Im really happy to talk about low forces. And he burns and i coauthored this book published in 2019. We did it after exhibition of a larger topic of animals at war that we have in the museum. And for the book we actually decided to narrow the focus a little bit, just to talk about the u. S. Military in their use of animals but the war. I am going to talk but for meat animals today, and if we have some time i will try to get in a couple of other fund topics as well. We are going to talk about meals, dogs, pigeons, and horses. We will go to the first flight here and mules. Although they are often looked down upon because of the stubborn an object nature,s freeze government mule is one a lot of us are probably familiar with. They are indeed hardworking and widely used and military before world war ii, and they did prove vital in some areas. But why is . Meals they have a sort of nature and care footed. They were really vital on some of the terrains that were possible by military vehicles. They require less green than horses. And are a much more dependable working animal. They are quite intelligent, which is quite contrary to popular belief, its actually their intelligence that helps them recognize their own limits of strength and endurance. So this quality that is often read as stubbornness is really a form of self preservation. So like horses, mules will not work themselves to death. We will go to the next slide. During world war i, the army used meals with hundreds of thousands and kept nearly 80,000 after world war i during that into work period. As the u. S. Military became more mechanized and was drawing more and more on wheel and track vehicles along with aircraft, the use of wheels declined. But as the troops were working through the terrains of north africa and italy, and even more so in the china government, wheels would prove really vital and the army would then prepare local meals in italy, and then eventually by 14,000 more during the war. According to a manual about meals in the military, this is what it says about a good deal. It is a pack meal should be 14 and one half a hand in hand and way from 1000 1200 pounds. He should be compact. Starkly built, and have a short neck, it short neck, large bear with deep girth. Straight, strong legs, short pasture and good feet. If that wasnt enough, mueller also of the chosen based on their personality. They had to have, composure quietness, calmness. Those traits were also important when you have hundreds of meals all weve been together through narrow pathways and often intimidating jungles. So similarly, the u. S. Military selected mules based on their knowledge of animals and fear of certain animals. Mule handlers were expected to be cached patient, to be kind, and firm. They restarted to train the meals with positive in reinforcement. When it acted the way that it wanted it to and strictly private of things like strikes, switches, and other things that may instill fear in the middle. All the mules for trained to be written, led, stand quietly, walk, stand fully packed, swim, move not heard and they also had to be immersed in the sounds of battle. Battle inoculation was really key to making sure the mules did not panic when they encountered loud noises. They would be worked in and around motor parks that would allow them to become familiar with the sound of gasoline 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 and lead pack mule could she wore a special bell and the other mules were trained to follow the bell. If she climbed the hill, they climbed the hill, if she swam the river, they swam the river. 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 famous 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 and rough 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 mountains, 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. From that atlantic ports tool 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 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. All of this came to the United States. His personal riding mount was his mule, chick. They traveled together all the way to china. They were assigned to each other. He cared for him and 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 in 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 tops of war dogs. Scouts and sentry dogs, messenger dogs, tech dogs, and roving dogs. There were also a 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 mine dog 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. They needed to be moderately intelligent, link, and somewhat aggressive. Sentry dogs were trained to accompany military and civilian patrols in various conditions and to give a warning through parking 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 care carry a message for five times faster than a soldier on foot. Dogs have a much lower profile than humans, making them harder to locate and more challenging tissue. 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 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. He was not only an a accomplished messenger dog, but a 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 really changed the way military and serviceman thought about docs the military. These are some of the most highly trained in the military, used primarily in the pacific, they would walk up to 25 yards and win a dog sensed an enemy soldier it would give a signal or alert to its handler. This signal or alert was key because it had to be silent. Handlers and dogs were paired together before basic training and they spent their whole military lives together essentially because the dock and handler didnt know each other very well, they needed to build that trust together. There were a lot of stories about dog men being made fun of by other marines and soldiers, but you get one instance like i just described was caesar, and like i will describe with kurt and they arent very much the respect of those that were. On them you can see some government pictures here often used by the marine corps in the pacific. Having the dogs go out ahead of the calm they can sense the enemy process presents before the bodies of the enemy soldiers or marines would walk through. Kurt was a painter mug at the island of. One he alerted to japanese soldiers, his private was a first class gibson, they killed two japanese soldiers before a mortar shell exploded near them. Those japanese soldiers were part of a much larger for us, and kurds discovered them from stumbling body with his spine exposed and surgery impossible he suffered for most of the day before succumbing talismans. But a sacrifice let his likeness being memorialized to all the dogs for the liberation of guam. You can see that it stands there with the names of many of the other dogs that give their lives for that liberation. So dougs for defense obtained 18,000 dogs during the three years it was engaged for procurement. Nearly 3000 ducks were sent overseas. Dogs prove to be a invaluable resource in the pacific and home front. If the dogs survive the war there would be returned to them. That promise prove difficult to fulfill. The u. S. Military didnt anticipate thousands of hours of retraining and the militarization training says that would because to fulfill such a promise. Through the work of lieutenant, and major, the dogs were given that demilitarize a shun training and set home. So homing pigeons. Believe or not, we still used fidgets in world war ii. One of the oldest means of communication were widely used. They are a specific type of domestic pageant derived from the rock pigeon and not the pharaoh pigeons that many of us are familiar with in our cities. Believe it or not, the earliest documented use of pigeons for communication was with the romans 2000 years ago. And their ability to carry imported messages hasnt really damaged in that time. So even before japans attack in pearl harbor, the American Military had begun ramping up its Communication Program with the army signal corps. During the, war a carrier pigeon was used in almost every theater every access and ally. About a dozen american pigeon units were activated during the war and the army score had about 3000 soldiers and 150 officers assigned to the u. S. Military veteran service. And they cared for more than 54,000 vengeance and 36,000 of those were deployed overseas. The pigeons were used in all the combat theaters, and they actually sought service with ground troops, in some, marines with, bombers and in the intelligence service. In expanding rate of success, senior soldiers received more than 90 of the messages sent by the military. Thats a pretty good right. The pigeons often come to missions under bad conditions, bad weather, night flying, blood showers, and even attacks from any birds of prey. Thousands of soldiers and airmen and owe their lives to the pitch nears who sent their messages one on the other means have failed. However, even as the army move two words nearly total mechanization and the birds were seen is valuable because they were induct undetectable form of communication. They were used one other means of communication were not available or feasible. Patients were also important part of communications when wherein they were also impacted for paratroopers who frequently have little or no Radio Communications. So pigeons got news swiftly and without revealing that location of the soldiers. And pigeons were actually also dropped the especially made parishes or inside bamboo boxes or containers. You can see here eight bird pigeon continue that would be dropped by parachute. And they had to be put inside the continues because other was a sun as they were let out of the aircraft they would fly home. So the soldiers could clip the, pigeons said the, messages said that with the communications and in one of the capsules that were used. Since there were so successful very few of the messages were so coated. There were so dependable at getting to their homes that they dont worry about it getting to enemy hands. Even though their talent was very known we dont always know about how and has managed to go home. We do know that it takes training at a young age. The loft can actually be moved to new locations. And the bird taken hundreds of miles away, and despite the pigeons new location and even the lofts new location the bird will return. So how do they do that . If you go to the next one. Okay, first, young homing pigeons are passionate, this becomes their permanent home. They are we here and moderately allowed to fly short of substances within the loft and when they return to get. It gradually this instills the pavlovian mechanism that if i do this i get food. Theyre taking different distances and dropped, off tossed to stay safe to fly. Home they start at half a mile, than a mile, up to and ultimately getting into 250 miles. So once they, come back to that loss lofts, easily, then they start to move the loft as well as take the bird different distances. So the startup by releasing several pigeons together so they will all fly home together. And taking it dance until theyre flying home in pairs. This is also when they will attach the capsules and get the proceeds to flying with a caps on their neck. All of this training was actually designed to prevent the Bird Association 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 then released returned to their home loft despite that the loft probably moved in the pigeons time away. So to pigeons who proved themselves during the war. On the left is yank. And when american soldiers stormed and tucked back to new show, yang was releas