Four-legged heroes: Congress weighs valor medal for military dogs

Man’s best friend has been one of America’s fiercest defenders for centuries.

A push in Congress to honor heroic military working dogs has refocused a spotlight on the vital role of K-9 warriors throughout U.S. history. In 2019, a Belgian Malinois named Conan helped U.S. Special Forces take down ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria after surviving an explosion inside an Islamic State tunnel. President Trump later honored Conan at the White House.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin, Michigan Democrat and a former intelligence officer, said dogs are crucial to U.S. military history. She is helping lead the fight for the K-9 medal.

“They should be respected as such,” said Ms. Slotkin, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee.

At the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War, a Staffordshire bull terrier named Sallie Ann Jarrett was separated from the 11th Pennsylvania Infantry regiment during the crucial early hours of July 1, 1863. She was found three days later, after the Confederate retreat, guarding her wounded comrades.

Sallie had been given as a puppy to the commander of the 11th Pennsylvania. She officially joined and traveled with the unit for almost the entirety of the conflict, including the battles at Antietam and Fredericksburg.

“She was loyal to those men,” said Barbara Sanders, an education specialist with the National Park 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 alongside the 11th Pennsylvania monument in Gettysburg, which includes a bronze statue of Sallie.

Sallie served with her regiment for nearly two more years and even survived a bullet wound to the neck during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. She was killed by a bullet wound 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

Military dogs’ role was formalized with the 1942 creation of the Army K-9 Corps. Today, the Air Force’s 341st Training Squadron in San Antonio 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.

About 1,600 military working dogs are serving the U.S. worldwide.

Some lawmakers say their contributions aren’t adequately recognized. Many military dogs have been honored alongside their human partners, and private organizations have given others certificates of achievement, plaques or medals.

Legislation in Congress would create a medal specifically to honor military dogs and the bravery they have shown serving their country.

Ms. Slotkin told The Washington Times in an interview that she was motivated to act primarily 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 said.

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 is unclear in the Senate version of the annual legislation that sets the Defense Department’s spending and policy targets.

Such an award almost certainly would have been given to Conan, the military working dog who helped chase Islamic State leader al-Baghdadi through a tunnel during the 2019 U.S. Special Forces raid in Syria.

Conan was injured when al-Baghdadi detonated a suicide vest while fleeing American forces. Conan made a full recovery and was honored by Mr. Trump and 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 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.