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    Always Faithful: A Memoir of the Marine Dogs of WWII
    Always Faithful: A Memoir of the Marine Dogs of WWII
    Always Faithful: A Memoir of the Marine Dogs of WWII
    Ebook260 pages5 hours

    Always Faithful: A Memoir of the Marine Dogs of WWII

    By William W. Putney

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Twenty-three-year-old Bill Putney enlisted in the Marines in 1943 in search of military glory. Instead, Putney, a licensed veterinarian, was relegated to the Dog Corps.
    Putney became the Commanding Officer of the 3rd War Dog Platoon, and later the chief veterinarian and C.O. of the War Dog Training School at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. At Lejeune Putney helped train America's dogs for war in the Pacific. He later led them into combat in the invasion of Guam in 1944, the first liberation of American soil in World War II.
    Always Faithful is the story of the dogs that fought in Guam and across the islands of the Pacific, a celebration of the four-legged soldiers that Putney both commanded and followed. It is a tale of immense courage, but also of incredible sacrifice.
    On Guam, as on islands such as Iwo Jima and Okinawa, the Japanese were infamously tenacious, refusing to surrender as long as there was a hole left to crawl into. Rooting out the enemy was an awful, painstaking job. To this task, Putney's dogs were well suited. Used for scouting, attack, carrying messages, detecting mines, and also as guards, the war dogs were so well trained that they could locate nonmetallic mines that had been buried for months deep underground; their hearing was so precise they could detect enemy trip wires by listening to them "sing" in the breeze.
    Their record in action was perfect. More than 550 patrols on the island of Guam were led by dogs; not one patrol was ambushed. But for this success, the dogs, always out in front, paid a terrible price. Although Putney worked feverishly as veterinarian and C.O. to keep the dogs alive, many were lost.
    After the war, Putney returned home only to discover that the dogs he had served with were being put to sleep. These dogs were ex-household pets, recruited from civilians with the promise that they would someday be returned. Outraged, Putney fought for the dogs' right to go home. He won, and headed the overwhelmingly successful program to "detrain" the dogs so they could return to their families. Alas, quickly learned, the lesson was quickly forgotten. The dogs of Korea and Vietnam did not come home. Then, in the final days of his administration, President Clinton signed into law a bill that allows military handlers to bring home the dogs with which they work. Once again, Putney was at the front of the charge.
    For anyone who has ever read Old Yeller, or the books of Jack London, here is a real-life story, never before told, that beats any fiction. At once wistful tribute and stirring adventure, Always Faithful describes what may be the greatest man-dog effort of all time. It will both astound and move you.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherFree Press
    Release dateFeb 22, 2002
    ISBN9780743213738
    Always Faithful: A Memoir of the Marine Dogs of WWII

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    Reviews for Always Faithful

    4.5/5

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    • 5/5
      *Book source ~ A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.Original review was published in Sgt. Grit’s Newsletter, Vol. 2, No. 5, May 2004Retired Captain William Putney, of the United States Marine Corps, recounts his story of the 3rd Marine War Dog Platoon used in World War II in his memoir Always Faithful. In June 1943, Putney enlisted in the Marine Corps. Fresh out of college with a degree in veterinary medicine, he was hoping to serve his country with honor and courage. It came as a disappointment when his orders sent him to be a line officer in the War Dog Platoon. However, he was soon engrossed in the training of the dogs and handlers for combat in the Pacific. Putney’s writing flows easily carrying the reader along on his journey as he describes the almost seven months of training, the trip to Guadalcanal, and the tension filled, dangerous liberation of the island of Guam. After the war was over he was horrified to learn that the war dogs were being euthanized. No attempt was being made to retrain them for safe return to the civilian owners who donated them. He spearheaded the effort to establish a detraining program of the courageous dogs serving our country with courage and distinction. His efforts paid off when the Marine Corps established the war dog detraining program. The program was a huge success and out of 559 Marine Corps dogs, only 19 had to be euthanized (15 due to health reasons and only four were considered too incorrigible for civilian life). Putney paints the reader a clear picture of what the training, the dogs and their handlers, and war was like. It is at times humorous and horrifying without bogging us down in military slang incomprehensible to the non-military reader. This memoir is a wonderful story for the history buff, military buff, and dog lover.
    • 5/5
      Putney worked at the War Dog Training School as an officer and veterinarian before shipping out with his platoons into the freeing of Guam in 1944. He writes of his experiences and recollections of soldiers, both human and canine.Putney was the guy who set up the War dog Memorial on Guam. He told a great story here, taking us from enlistment through decommission. He adeptly balances mentions of training techniques and veterinary-specific info with stories of partners. It's not boring for the old-hands, but not above the average reader either.
    • 2/5
      No offense to Capt. Putney - he has a great story to tell, he just doesn't know how to tell it. Harris Done's documentary film, War Dogs of the Pacific, tells the same story and breaks your heart. Putney seems more concerned about recording the details. From his actions, it's obvious he cares very deeply about the dogs and the men who worked with them in World War II but he has a difficult time expressing his emotions in the printed word. Still, it's an interesting part of history and carried a timely message when it was published - Congress had just passed legislation requiring that dogs used in war be detrained and returned to civilian life whenever possible. Putney and his men proved this to be possible yet dogs used in subsequent wars were destroyed without anyone even attempting to detrain them.

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    Always Faithful - William W. Putney

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