For centuries, man’s best friend has also been one of America’s fiercest defenders.
A push in Congress to honor heroic military working dogs has cast a renewed spotlight on the vital role canine K-9 warriors have played in fights over the course of U.S. history, dating back to pivotal Civil War battles that shaped the nation. More recently, a Belgian Malinois named Conan helped U.S. special forces take down ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria in 2019, surviving an explosion inside an Islamic State tunnel and later being honored by then-President Trump at the White House.
Dogs, argues Rep. Elissa Slotkin, Michigan Democrat and former intelligence officer who is helping lead the fight for the new medal, are and have been for much of American history a key part of the U.S. military.
“They should be respected as such,” said Ms. Slotkin, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee.
Four-legged contributions to America’s military are common, though often overlooked.
At the Battle of Gettysburg, for example, an American pitbull named Sallie Ann Jarrett guarded wounded soldiers of the 11th Pennsylvania Infantry regiment after they fought off a Confederate advance during the crucial early hours of the battle on July 1, 1863. After being given to a captain in the 11th Pennsylvania, Sallie officially joined the unit at the start of the war and traveled with it for almost the entirety of the conflict, seeing action at Antietam, Fredericksburg and other historic battles.
At Gettysburg, she spent days guarding her wounded comrades. She was found on July 4, after the battle ended and the Confederate army was retreating, having spent three days guarding the dead and injured.
“She was loyal to those men,” said Barbara Sanders, an education specialist with the National Parks Service office at Gettysburg. “She exemplified the qualities that the men wanted to have — never turning back in battle, staying focused on the mission. There’s something about her, and dogs in our history, going back hundreds of years.”
“The role of keeping their spirits up, it can’t be undervalued,” Ms. Sanders said in an interview, standing alongside the 11th Pennsylvania monument in Gettysburg, which includes a bronze statue of Sallie.
Sallie went on to serve with her regiment for nearly two more years even surviving a bullet wound to the neck during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. She was shot and killed during fighting at Hatcher’s Run, Virginia, in early 1865, just a few months before the end of the war.
“She didn’t know any other life. This is what she knew,” Ms. Sanders said of Sallie.
Life of service
A lifetime of dedicated service to their country has been commonplace for military dogs before and after Sallie’s time with the 11th Pennsylvania. The role of dogs in the U.S. military was formalized with the 1942 creation of the Army K-9 Corps. Today, the Air Force’s 341st Training Squadron in San Antonio, Texas, runs the Pentagon’s official Military Working Dogs program.
Most dogs are bred specifically for a life of military service. Some are trained to detect narcotics, others to sniff out bombs and hidden explosive devices. Others serve as guard or patrol dogs. The U.S. and British militaries, among others, have even trained dogs to parachute out of planes along with their human handlers.
There are about 1,600 military working dogs serving the U.S. today at locations around the world.
But some lawmakers say their contributions haven’t been adequately recognized. Plenty of military dogs have been honored alongside their human partners, while others have been given certificates of achievement or plaques or medals by private organizations.
New legislation in Congress would create a medal specifically to honor those dogs and the bravery they’ve shown serving their country.
Ms. Slotkin told The Washington Times in an interview she was motivated to act largely because of what she experienced in the field as a working intelligence officer.
“As a CIA officer whose life was protected by dogs in Iraq, and as the representative for one of two military working dog cemeteries in the country, I have a deep respect for the service of our military working dogs,” she explained.
Ms. Slotkin put forth the “Canine Members of the Armed Forces Act” as part of the House’s annual National Defense Authorization Act. The bill passed the House, though its fate in the Senate version of the annual legislation that sets spending and policy targets for the Defense Department, remains unclear.
Such an award almost certainly would have been given to Conan, the military working dog who helped chase Islamic State leader Baghdadi through a tunnel during the 2019 U.S. special forces raid in Syria.
Conan was injured when Baghdadi detonated a suicide vest while fleeing from American forces. Conan made a full recovery and was honored by Mr. Trump and then-Vice President Mike Pence at the White House just a month after the mission.
“Conan did a fantastic job and we’re very honored to have Conan here and to have given Conan a certificate and an award,” Mr. Trump said at the ceremony.
Mr. Pence, meanwhile, was petting the dog throughout the White House event.
“Having this extraordinary dog here today is all a reflection of our armed forces and the great job that they do. Conan is really a hero,” he said.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.