Famous General Dog Names

Maybe Chips doesn’t have the toughest name, or even a general’s name for that matter, but he is considered the most decorated dog from WWII. And yes, you read that correctly. 

World War II wasn’t even the first time dogs were trained and employed in an organized manner. In fact, they had been used regularly in World War I for sentry work, as messengers, and to clear foxholes of rats so soldiers could properly settle into them. 

After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1942, the day the United States of America was thrust into the war, the US government had already come to terms with the limited availability of their forces. Fortunately, a private citizen was already getting efforts in motion by forming Dogs for Defense, a program that encouraged private citizens to “donate” their pets for military service. Over a two-year period, nearly 40,000 dogs were donated to the cause, 10,000 of which were eventually selected for full training. 

The initial requirements for the program were loose and encompassed around 30 breeds, aged one to five years old, and at least 50 pounds, but over time, refined their search to a more ideal training age (18 months to three years) and more easily trainable breeds, namely Collies, Belgian Sheep Dogs, German Shepherds, Siberian Huskies, Malamutes and the Marine Corps favorites, Doberman Pinschers. 

Among those selected for training was Chips, a German Shepherd-Siberian Husky-Collie mix, owned by Pleasantville, New York’s Edward Wren. Chips was quickly trained for sentry work in the US Army and shortly after joined active forces. With his handler John Rowell, Chips served with the 3rd Infantry Division everywhere from North Africa to Italy and Germany. 

But instead of serving more traditional duties, Chips quickly skyrocketed to the status of a hero. In 1943, during the invasion of Sicily, Chips and Rowell were pinned down by Italian machine-gunners. When he sensed an opportunity, Chips broke from his handler and jumped into the pillbox, attacking the gunners and flushing them out to surrender to US troops, sustaining numerous injuries in the process. Later that same day, he also helped take ten Italian soldiers prisoner. 

For his these and other actions and bravery, Chips was awarded a Purple Heart, a Silver Star, and a Distinguished Service Cross, although they were later revoked through a military bureaucratic policy preventing animals from receiving commendation, but his unit awarded him medals unofficially anyway. After the war, Chips was supposedly discharged and returned to his family. 

His acts were so heroic, he was honored posthumously, first by Disney, who made a TV movie based on his life titled Chips, the War Dog, and second by the PDSA with a Dickin Medal, the dog equivalent of The Victoria Cross, the highest award of the UK’s honours system.