Chips the Hero

Chips and Rowell

Saw an interesting article on Chips, aka Chips the War Dog, aka WWII’s most decorated dog.

On the morning of July 10, 1943, Pvt. John P. Rowell and his sentry dog, Chips, hit the beach during Operation Husky. When a hidden machine gun nest opened fire, pinning down the platoon, Chips tore free from Rowell and charged straight into the fortified position. He seized the gunner by the throat, silenced the weapon and forced four Italian soldiers to surrender.

You just know you need to read any article with THAT opening paragraph! Do so.

“There was an awful lot of noise,” Rowell recalled. “Then I saw one Italian soldier come out the door with Chips at his throat. I called him off before he could kill the man.”

GOOD dog!

Chips was born in 1940, a mix of German Shepherd, Collie and Husky-Malamute. He was bred by C.C. Moore, who eventually gave the dog to the family of Edward J. Wren in Pleasantville, New York.

The dog attached himself to Wrens’ daughter, Gail. He followed her on the walk to school most mornings and rested beneath her desk in class. If other kids got too physical on the playground, Chips would wedge himself between them and pull Gail to safety.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the American Kennel Club and a newly formed civilian organization called Dogs for Defense began recruiting privately owned dogs for military service. The group initially intended to provide sentry dogs to the Coast Guard for beach patrols along the American coastline.

The response from American families was overwhelming. More than 19,000 dogs were donated between 1942 and 1945, though roughly 45 percent were rejected as unsuited for training due to poor temperament, sensitivity to gunfire or inadequate sense of smell. Of the roughly 10,425 dogs that completed training, fewer than 1,900 were shipped overseas.

The Wren family knew Chips would be a good candidate, and signed him up. Dunno what YOUR household is like, but most folks I know would rather give up a car or a child than the family dog. That is sacrifice, folks.

He was paired with Pvt. John P. Rowell, a military policeman from Arkansas. The two were assigned to the 3rd Military Police Platoon, 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. They deployed together to North Africa in the fall of 1942 as part of Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French North Africa. Chips was among the first American war dogs to serve overseas.

Even before his most famous exploit, Chips demonstrated his value. According to the Military Working Dog Heritage Museum, one of his earliest notable acts in theater was alerting Rowell to a pending ambush. During the ensuing firefight, Chips galloped back to base with a phone cable attached to his collar, dodging small arms fire and allowing the platoon to call for help.

In January 1943, Chips received a unique assignment. He was one of three dogs selected to provide security for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during the Casablanca Conference in French Morocco, where the two leaders plotted Allied strategy for the remainder of the war.

Despite the policy against service animals receiving decorations, Major General Lucien Truscott, 3ID’d CG, recommended Chips for the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, and Purple Heart. Ironically, the main opposition came from the Purple Heart Association which felt this demeaned the award. Some records say Chips kept his DSC, some say only the Star and Heart were allowed to remain. Either way, Chips was reunited with the Wrens in 1946, and they became good friends with Rowell.

All the controversy, however, led to service animals being classified as “equipment.” Wonder why it is so hard (read: damn near impossible) for a handler to bring a K-9 home from a war? This is why.

The debate over Chips’ medals did more than strip honors from a single dog. It helped establish a legal and bureaucratic framework that classified military working dogs as equipment, a status equivalent to a rifle or a tent.

During the Vietnam War, roughly 5,000 dogs served with American forces, credited by military estimates with saving approximately 10,000 lives.

Out of those 10,000, about 200 made it home. But, the “Robby Law” of 2000  changed that so handlers could adopt their dogs.  And Chip’s legacy?

On Jan. 15, 2018, exactly 75 years to the day after the Casablanca Conference, where Chips once stood guard, the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals awarded him the Dickin Medal in a ceremony at the Churchill War Rooms in London. Randolph Churchill, Winston Churchill’s great-grandson, even attended the ceremony.

The Dickin Medal is the highest honor any animal can receive for service in military conflict, often described as the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross. A military working dog named Ayron stood in for Chips at the ceremony while U.S. Army Lt. Col. Alan Throop accepted the medal on behalf of the regiment.

John Wren, then 76 years old, traveled from his home in Southold, New York, to witness the presentation. Military.com

Category: Army, We Remember, WWII