Heroes

[Donald Nicolson]

After reading the string on Tim Murphy?s need of a dog, I thought that this reply to a letter in ?Family History? magazine might be of interest. .
?On 23 November 2004, The Princes Royal( Princess Anne) unveiled a memorial to the animals that served and died alongside British and allied troops in wars and campaigns throughout time.
The monument, at Brook Gate in Park Lane, central London, depicts two mules, a horse and a dog, together with lists of the number of animals lost in conflicts.
It honours all animals used in war, including horses, dogs, dolphins, elephants, pigeons and even glow worms.
The monument pays special tribute to the 60 animals awarded the PDSA Dickin Medal - the animals equivalent of the Victoria Cross - since 1943.
They include 54 animals - 32 pigeons, 18 dogs, three horses and a cat - commended for their service in World War II. Among these heroes were Rob, a para-dog who made more than 20 parachute drops while serving with the SAS on top-secret missions in Africa and Italy(WWII), and , more recently Buster, a six-year-old Springer spaniel, who won it for his service in Iraq in 2003, when he discovered a hidden cache of explosives inthe southern city of Safwan.
Eight million horses were killed in WWI alone, carrying men, arms, and supplies into battle. 200,000 pigeons were used as messengers in WWII - of 17,000 parachuted into enemy territory, fewer than one in eight returned. Dogs have been used to hunt mines and search for the wounded and are still routinely used today.
Mules were used as transport in the Burmese jungle, with their vocal chords cut to keep them quiet. Camels, oxen and elephants were used for similar purposes elsewhere.
Dolphins and sea-lions are used today to find underwater mines and protect ships. And glow worms were used in WWI as an aid for map reading.?
I especially like the piece about Rob and Buster, a couple of real heroes.

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Donald/Scotland

[Tup]

All joking from pyrates aside, the relationships between man and animal always amaze me. Some might make fun of a memorial, but we all need to be reminded of the things we have asked of our fellow creatures.

[Harold Hattaway]

Tup;

I doubt you will hear much joking about heros being animals from this bunch. Both of my sons had their pictures in the local paper some 20 years ago, they were raising seeing eye dogs. I would bet that each of us have met at least one hero that is an animal. WE have one that comes to our church leading his owner.

While I do not own any animals any more, I live in town and do not feel it right, if my dream comes true of buying property with a lake you can bet I'll make up for not having animals......

Harold

[Tup]

Harold, you are right and I shouldn't have worded it the way I did.

Dear Donald,

Thanks for posting that.

By no means do I wish to diminish the accomplishments of the humans involved in those wars, but it's nice to know that some folks recognize that they had some help.

I recall reading stories after the 9/11 attack on the WTC that the rescue dogs were getting depressed. It seems they had a hard time handling the fact that they found nothing but remains.

Here's to all creatures great and small. We're better off because of them.

Regards,
Tim Murphy

[Canoeman1947]

Tim,
The same thing (depression) happened with the rescue dogs after the Oklahoma City bombing. I know a few people who helped in the rescue work, and they definitely felt the strain, and said the dogs did too.

Larry Compton

[ohiotuber]

Want to hear a GREAT story about "Hero/Heroine dogs"?
My wife & I vacation yearly in Kitty Hawk, NC (Outerbanks). There is a store named Salty Paws (which has changed owners since), where we always buy home-made biscuits for our dog, Cocoa. The summer of 2002, we saw T-shirts we HAD to buy! Design is an American flag with paw prints instead of stars & in the red stripes are the names, breeds, & city and/or state of the dogs who worked searching for "911" victims. The story is that someone who had a friend who handled 1 of these dogs designed & printed a T-shirt to honor the friend's dog. As the handler's friends saw the shirts, he made more for them & contributed the proceeds to a dog handler's organization/group. Eventually, the group contacted him, thanking him for the donations, but said what they really wanted were the rights to print & sell the shirt & he gave them that. Great shirt, and an even greater story, that is one "T" I will NEVER get rid of. Sadly, we did not see the shirts there last year. However, if anyone is interested, they DO have a website, [url=http://www.saltypaws.com:f16f7]www.saltypaws.com[/url:f16f7]
Wanted to share.
Mike