"Supporting Our Deployed Service Members and The Mascots They Love" |
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Photos and captions from "Buddies, Men, Dogs and World War II" by L. Douglas Keeney "Buddies" in memory of the men and women who fought World War II- and the four-legged companions that stood by their side". Millions of American men are overseas fighting the enemy, but if any proof were needed that they're still pretty much the same kind of fellows who left home, this photo adds a convincing touch. Dogs and boys go together- no matter where they are. Sgt Wallace Moore, ties up his terrier, Tony in his B barracks bag to make sure he is not left behind. Sgt Moore leaves nothing to chance and stencils Tony's bag carefully. Talasea, a kitten, in the shirt of a homeward-bound Marine His name used to be Half-Hitch but the wounded boys started calling him Doc Sunshine. Doc assigned himself to cheer-up duty in the morale-upping division aboard transport. Doc strolls from bunk to bunk shaking paws and giving all the boys that things-are-getting better-every-day feeling. All day long, Doc Sunshine make his rounds visiting the boys who are coming home with their arms and legs in casts and their heads in bandages. He makes 'em forget the war and break into smiles. Here Doc drops in on PFC Harold Keel who got in the way of some German machine gun fire. With a steel helmet for a pillow and the coral ground for a bed, a sixth division Marine and a "friend" take a well-earned rest in front of a 105-millimeter howitzer on Okinawa. The tired artilleryman is John Emmons of Sheffield, AL. Friend is the unit mascot. A sneaky photographer caught these two buddies trying to get some sleep. Guns, the mascot on this combat cutter, and his master hit the sack together after standing a long night's watch. They were in the waters of the French Mediterranean coast, where Operation Dragoon had just happened, landing 90,000 troops between Toulon and Cannes in August 1944. Buddie stands in sorrow at the grave of his master in the 5th Marine division. Buddy has been at the front since the invasion of Iwo Jima. As Coast Guard Leut. Commander Jack Dixon scanned the deck of a sinking ship, he found only this forlorn puppy. As the sea rose over the gunwales and started flooding the ship, the frightened pooch climbed the stairs to save himself. Commander Dixon rescued the grateful animal, but not before taking this heart-rending picture of a sad, scared pup. This photo won first honors at a 1940's showing at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Corporal Edward Burckhardt with kitten that he said "captured" him at the base of Suribachi on the battlefield of Iwo Jima.
Your donations are a simple way to Support and Thank our Troops for their sacrifices. Show them you care, help bring their buddies home for them. Copyright © 2003-2004 Bonnie Buckley- Military Mascots |