Dogs of War: 6 Canines Who Served With Honor

At the camp, she linked up with Leading Aircraftman Frank Williams, who took her home to Liverpool when World War II ended in 1945. Judy was awarded the Dickin Medal, the British equivalent of the Medal of Honor for animals, and died at age 13 in East Africa, where Williams was working on a government-funded food scheme.

Cairo — Belgian Malinois took part in Osama bin Laden raid

Cairo took part in the Osama bin Laden raid.

Will Chesney

This remarkable Navy Military Working Dog, assigned to SEAL Team Six, was shot in the chest and front leg by Taliban fighters in 2009. He recovered and in May 2011 was flown into Pakistan in a modified MH-60 Black Hawk for the Operation Neptune Spear raid in Abbottabad during which al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was killed. 

During 45 minutes on the ground in Pakistan, Cairo was used by his SEAL handler, Will Chesney, to look for explosives outside the compound where bin Laden was hiding. After the terrorist leader was shot dead, Cairo was taken inside to clear rooms. Cairo held a restless crowd at bay while SEALs gathered vital intelligence.

A Belgian Malinois, valued at up to $65,000, is smaller and more compact than a German shepherd. The dogs have a sense of smell 40 times greater than a human’s, and they’re as fast as a man in peak condition. In military service, they are often equipped with video cameras and sometimes sent into danger via a tandem parachute jump with their handlers.

Cairo was adopted by Chesney and died in Texas in 2015. Chesney wrote the best-selling book No Ordinary Dog about Cairo, describing their relationship as “profound and intimate.” 

Sergeant Stubby — terrier mix served in trenches in France

Stubby served in 17 battles during World War I.

J. Robert Conroy/National Museum of American History/Smithsonian

Found wandering the grounds of the Yale University campus in New Haven, Connecticut, in July 1917, Stubby was smuggled in a corporal’s overcoat to Europe in a troop ship. He served in 17 battles during four offensives with the 26th Division. 

In the Argonne, Stubby sniffed out a German spy and held on to the seat of his pants until soldiers completed the capture. Gassed and injured by a grenade, Stubby was given the rank of sergeant and allowed to wear the spy’s Iron Cross on his cloak.

After World War I, Stubby became a national hero and was presented with a Humane Education Society medal by Gen. John “Black Jack” Pershing in 1921. He stayed at New York’s Majestic Hotel and met with three U.S. presidents. 

Stubby received a long obituary in The New York Times when he died in 1926 and was stuffed and mounted. He is an exhibit at the Smithsonian.

Lex — German shepherd stayed faithful when Marine handler killed

Retired Marine K9 Lex was awarded Purple Heart.

L. Rich/Wikipedia

After Lex was wounded in a mortar attack in Fallujah in 2007, he refused to leave the side of his Marine handler, Cpl. Dustin Lee, 20, who had been killed. The pair had slept next to each other and posed in Santa hats for a holiday photo.

The strong bond prompted Lee’s family to adopt the 8-year-old German shepherd, who was released from military service two years early. “We knew that’s what Dustin would have wanted out of this,” said Lee’s father. “He knew that we would take care of Lex and love him, just like our own.”

Lex struggled with mobility issues due to his injuries. He had about 50 pieces of shrapnel in his body. He died of cancer in 2012.

Chips — mutt who attacked Nazi machine gunners in Sicily

Chips was the most decorated war dog from World War II.

US Army

The most decorated American dog in World War II was Chips, one of 10,475 dogs to serve in the K-9 Corps. A German shepherd, collie and husky mix brought up in Pleasantville, New York, he was a scout dog alongside American troops of the 3rd Infantry Division in North Africa, Italy, France and Germany.

In 1943, Chips and his handler were pinned down by fire from a machine gun nest during the invasion of Sicily. Chips broke free and attacked the German troops, fixing his teeth around one of them and forcing their surrender. 

The Silver Star and Purple Heart medals awarded to Chips were rescinded because animals were not authorized to receive them. Chips retired to Pleasantville and died in 1946. In 1990, 50 years after his birth, Disney released Chips, the War Dog, a TV movie based on his life.

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