75 years ago on New Year’s Day — two years after the end of World War II — a former sergeant in the United States Marines reportedly came home a hero after serving overseas.
“After nearly two years of service, a brief article in the Canton Repository of Wednesday, January 1, 1947, reported, “Sergeant Sparks, the famous Marine Corps ‘Devil Dog’ of Canton, is back in America. Served in major engagements at Bougainville, Peleliu, and Okinawa, New Caledonia, Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Guam, and Panama Canal, and with the occupation forces in Japan.
The moniker “Devil Dog” was more than just a nickname attached to every member of the Navy even before World War I. Spark was really a dog. Years ago a Canton man donated dozens of other dogs from Stark County and thousands of cats from across the United States to the war effort — through the “Dogs for Defense” program.
Now Sgt. Sparks returned to America as the “honored dog” at the dedication of what was then the nation’s largest pet cemetery, a 27-acre war dog memorial in South Lyon, Michigan.
In the dedication, Sgt. Spark’s heroic stories were narrated for the participants of the event. The Repository acknowledged his war record in its New Year’s Day article.
“Sparks, with the Marine Raiders, was ‘beached’ at Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville, and thereafter engaged in continuous operations until relieved from combat duty.”
His return home soon after the end of the war surprised even the owner, who did not know the fate of his former pet.
“Arthur S. Adams of 1420 17th St. NW, who donated his four-year-old Doberman Pinscher for war service in March 1943, read stories of Spark’s exploits prepared by Marine combat correspondents during the war, but later lost track of the dog after Spark’s discharge,” the article in the repository explained.
Adams had requested Sparks be given to the dog’s marine handler overseas, KR Shepherd. Shepherd, Adams said, “pleaded very earnestly for him from the South Pacific.”
However, the Marine Corps advised Adams, “It is not recommended that the dog be returned to a private home.” Instead, the battle-trained and battle-scarred dog was buried near a cemetery in South Lyon by John R. of Rochester, Michigan. Presented to Patterson. Patterson was a former Marine who managed Sparks after the dog returned to America.
When did dogs go to war?
According to the Marine Corps University, dogs have served in warfare “since ancient times.”
“The Romans used heavy mastiffs with armored collars to attack their enemies on their feet, thus forcing them to lower their armor; first aid dogs were used in World War I; indeed, dogs of all kinds and breeds were used for centuries to pull small carts and sleds or to carry loads over light trails as pack animals,” Research Commemorated by a historian for the site. “In the 1920s, a Marine serving as a marine officer in the Guard de Haiti trained a dog to work at his patrol point to detect bandit ambushes.”
The Marine Corps’ combat dog training program began in November 1942 at a Marine Corps Training Center in New River, North Carolina, a facility later named Camp Lejeune.
“At the time one officer and 19 Marines were in training at the Dog School at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, and four Marines were on temporary duty with dog training at Fort Washington, Maryland,” the history says. Those sailors were ordered to bring their training back east.
The dog training program is expanding
The recruitment of dogs spread throughout the United States, not only for use by the Marines, but also by other branches of the military.
“The Army had recruited approximately 19,094 dogs at the time the (K-9) Corps began in 1942,” notes a column by Jane Eads published in the August 22, 1947, Repository. “10,526 of these were measured. To specifications, trained and put into service.”
Some of the dogs were purchased by the military for about $50. Many others contributed.
“All K-9 recruits must weigh approximately 50 pounds and be 23 to 24 inches tall at the shoulder,” Eads wrote. “The age range at the time of enlistment was 14 months to three and a half years.”
At the beginning of the military dog programs, five breeds — German, Belgian shepherd, Doberman pinscher, collie and giant schnauzer — were adopted and trained for scout and patrol work, Eads noted. Later recruitments were limited to German Shepherds, which she noted “proved excellent for handling and training purposes during the war years”.
“And the color of its coat, almost a camouflage in itself, earned it first consideration.”
While military branches recruited the dogs at the start of the program, others were procured for Marines through the Doberman Pinscher Club of America.
Defense dogs later contributed the most to the army and navy. The private organization is headed by New York dog breeder Alene Erlanger, but her organization has branches across the country, including in Stark County.
Several dozen dogs were donated through Dogs for Defense programs, which were launched in Canton, Massillon and other Stark County communities, the article attests to the repository.
For example, “Blitz von Starkenhart,” Harold Morris, chairman of the Dogs for Defense chapter in Canton, was only a one-and-a-half-year-old Doberman when he made his bid for freedom. Officially, the blitz was sponsored by the Canfield Oil Company, of which Morris was then manager.
Blitz was the first dog from Stark County to be donated through Dogs for Defense — his serial number was only 11 — a collection noted in the caption of Morris and Blitz’s photo. Published in the Photo Repository on November 25, 1945, after Dog was discharged from the rank of corporal and returned home after two years of sentry duty in the Pacific.
[Morristoldthepaperin1945thattheBlitz”didnotpresentaresettlementproblem”afterhewassentbackinOctoberofthatyear[1945-ൽമോറിസ്പത്രത്തോട്പറഞ്ഞുആവർഷംഒക്ടോബറിൽഅദ്ദേഹത്തെതിരിച്ചയച്ചതിന്ശേഷംബ്ലിറ്റ്സ്”ഒരുപുനരധിവാസപ്രശ്നവുംഅവതരിപ്പിച്ചില്ല”
“The blitz is as mild now as it was three years ago.”
Some dogs remained in service
Other military dogs were not of the same temperament following World War II.
A pictorial retrospective published in Repository in 1993 noted that dogs accepted into military dog programs during World War II were considered “gifts” to the military and often remained in service after the war. However, many were returned to their owners.
In his column, Eades explained that whether or not the dogs could be returned to normal life depended on their duties during the war.
“Scout dogs were especially useful in jungle fighting in the South Pacific, where they could smell a man 300 to 400 meters away,” she wrote. “Trained to warn and point without barking or grumbling, they saved hundreds of our boys from Japanese ambushes.
“Patrol, or guard, dogs were trained to attack, one-on-one dogs, fast and ferocious,” she continued. “They had the hardest time getting back into civilian life. They had to be trained and a few killed before they could be considered safe.”
About 2,300 of the dogs included in the military dog force were killed in combat. Eads reported several other injuries. More than two dozen dogs received citations for various acts of heroism or extreme intelligence.
Sparks was one of the “lucky dogs” Sgt.
After serving most of the war with distinction, he was honorably discharged.
Eligible to wear Presidential Citation and Naval Unit Citation with Star for Okinawa Campaign. Stars and the American Theater Ribbon.”
Reach Gary at [email protected]
On Twitter: @gbrownREP
