Free Dog Diaries 07 - Stubby by Kate Klimo Page A

bones a day. He posed for paintings, participated in parades, and raised funds for the Red Cross at American Legion conventions, where he met two more presidents—Harding and Coolidge. When John Conroy went to study law at Georgetown University, Stubby accompanied him to Washington, D.C. There, Stubby became the official mascot of the university football team, the Hoyas. In what might have beenthe earliest known version of the halftime show, he entertained fans by pushing a football across the field with his nose—a far cry from dodging sniper fire on the battlefields of Europe. But the crowds adored him.
    Stubby died in Conroy’s arms at the age of ten, but he was not buried in Soldiers’ Field. The remains of the most decorated dog in military history were preserved. You can visit them in Washington, at the National Museum of American History, a part of the Smithsonian Institution. In addition to Stubby himself, you can see his collar, his harness, a scrapbook kept by John Conroy, and Stubby’s spiffy army jacket, which still sports his numerous war medals and souvenirs. The German cross he got off the spy, unfortunately, seems to have disappeared. While the evidence of that escapade has vanished, the tale lives on. It is only one chapterin the long story of the little bull terrier mix who fought hard alongside his master, lending his great valor and heart to the Great War.
    For more information about World War I, check out a site sponsored by the U.S. Department of State:
    •   history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/wwi
    The National World War I Museum’s website includes activities and educational information for kids and families—plus downloadable lesson plans for educators:
    •   theworldwar.org/learn/kids-families
    •   theworldwar.org/learn/educators-students
    To read more about Stubby, visit the terrific Smithsonian site at:
    •   amhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/collection/object.asp?ID=15
    War Dogs
    Dogs have been used in wars since ancient times. As early as 327 BC, Alexander the Great conquered the known world with the help of a giant war dog called a molosser, who wore a studded collar. Most likely an ancestor of today’s mastiff, the molosser could supposedly hold its own against a lion. In 236 BC, armor-clad dogs fought alongside the Roman legions. Farther north, in 55 BC, the Britons used mastiffs with spiked helmets to ward off the invading armies of Caesar. Much later, in 1798, another conqueror named Napoléon chained dogs to the walls of Alexandria to warn of the approaching British troops.
    Dogs worked in the American Civil War as mascots and message carriers. Yet in 1917, when Stubby was smuggled aboard the SS Minnesota , there were no dogs serving in the U.S. Army.Stubby wasn’t the only unofficial canine participant in the Great War. Rags was a French stray adopted by the Eighteenth Infantry Division. He carried messages behind enemy lines and, like Stubby, warned of gas attacks. Dogs like Stubby and Rags paved the way for war dogs in years to come.
    After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1942, breeder organizations like Dogs for Defense campaigned for the official use of dogs in the military. They encouraged owners to donate their working dogs to the war effort—preferably German shepherds, Doberman pinschers, collies, Belgian sheepdogs, Alaskan malamutes, and huskies. With the help of the American Kennel Club, they raised funds to train and recruit a formidable canine force. But the demand for war dogs was greater than Dogs for Defense could handle. That’swhen the military pitched in with the War Dogs Program. By 1943, the two groups cooperated to draft over 10,000 dogs. The dogs were trained to serve in various capacities: as sentries, attackers, scouts, pack and message carriers, casualty seekers, and mine sniffers. But unlike Stubby, none of these dogs were desensitized in advance to the noise of gunfire. As a result, many cowered at their first exposure to