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Giving Back for a Better Community Page1 Caramel Apples, Knitting, and Bonfires Hear What People Are Saying About Us Page2 Injured on the Job: The Dangers of Oil Field Work Recipe of the Month Page3 Chips, the WWII Hero Dog Page4
Meet Chips The WWI I Hero Dog
War heroes are revered for their acts of bravery in times of combat — and Chips, the shepherd-collie-husky crossbreed, is no different. During World War II, the
hero status. On July 10, 1943, Allied soldiers were attacked on the beach by an enemy machine gun team. Chips ran for the hut where the barrage of bullets was coming from and tore into the enemies. His handler described hearing rapid noises and seeing Chips gripping one of the men by his throat until Rowell ordered the dog down. Three more men came out of the hut, their hands raised. Chips left the fight with burns and a scalp wound, but his actions saved the lives of all the men in his platoon, and later that day, he discovered more enemy soldiers. On Jan. 15, 2018 — 75 years after the Casablanca Conference — Chips was posthumously awarded the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals Dickin Medal, the highest award an animal can achieve for their time in military conflict in Britain. After his service, Chips returned to live with the Wren family. On U.S. soil, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, and the Purple Heart. These honors were eventually stripped by the Army after a policy barred animals from earning the same medals as people, but his platoon awarded him the Theater Ribbon and battle stars for his eight campaigns. To the men Chips saved, medals didn’t make him a hero — his selfless actions did.
Wren family donated Chips to Dogs for Defense shortly after the U.S. joined the war. Of the 40,000 dogs donated to the corps, more than 10,000 were selected to participate in the program
after training.
Chips was shipped off with his handler, Private Rowell, to French Morocco. Chips and Rowell patrolled the Casablanca Conference, where Chips was introduced to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
Following the meeting, Rowell and Chips went to Sicily to support the invasion as part of Operation Husky, which was where Chips earned his
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