Veterans Day

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2 responses to “Veterans Day”

1. 

   November 11, 2009

   Elizabeth A

   No idea what the painting is all about. Although the dead soldier and the one to his left appear to be Confederates and the one on the right Union. But the lily pads in the water look like something in a swampy land, so I imagine it’s in the south? Weird, flat painting, no? Maybe a child painted it?

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2. 

   November 12, 2009

   earthie

   Hi ya…one of the gals who is a Civil War Buff had posted this over at the Lancer TV Show Yahoo Group on Nov 2nd so it might answer your question.
   The current issue of History Channel Magazine is profiling the Service Dog program of today that is geared toward disabled veterans. Here are a couple of tidbits about historical service dogs from the Civil War (“Sallie” & “Dog Jack”) and WWI (“Stubby”).
   Front-line K-9s
   Dogs continue t oserve as sentries, guarding camps and equipment. They were also used to track escaped slaves and prisoners. But as military practices changed, so did the role of military dogs on the battlefield. During the Civil
   War, many regiments had canine mascots who provided an important morale boost to both camp life and in battle. Adopted as a puppy, Sallie, a Staffordshire bull
   terrier, followed the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteers into battle at Gettysburg in 1863, and stood guard over the dead and wounded until help arrived. Courageous “Dog Jack” would run to the front lines of battle, and afterward, searched out
   his regiment’s casualties on the field, identifying his comrades from the 102nd Pennsylvania. His fellow soldiers held him in such high regard that they exchanged a Confederate prisoner for him after he was captured in Virginia.
   The uncanny ability of a dog to recognize casualties of its own regiment on the battlefield continued to be a life-saving asset in the 20th century. During the bloody trench warfare that characterized much of the fighting in World War I,
   wounded soldiers might lie helplessly for hours or even days on the muddy battlefield. Following the example of their British and French allies, some fortunate American regiments kept strong, agile military dogs, trained to climb
   out of foxholes upon command, crawl on their bellies to retrieve wounded men, and drag them back to safety and medical care. Dogs also served as messengers, swimming across rivers and ducking under barbed wire to rech their destinations with a sealed message pouch on their backs.
   Perhasp the best known dog in World War I was Stubby, the first formally trained military dog i nthe U.S. service. Stubby located the wounded on the battlefield, gave early warning of mustard gas attacks, and caught a German spy by the seat of his pants – to the delight of American newspaper reporters and their readers. After the Armistice, Stubby and his handler were invited to the White House; they also received a commmendation from Gen. John Pershing. but most
   important he helped inspire the creation of the “K-9” Corps, headquartered at Fort Royal, Virginia.

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