War Dog!
To locate this cache you must first find where this monument was
erected. It will require approximately 3 miles of driving and less
than a 1 mile hike, with a few hundred feet of easy bushwacking.
Resting at his paws lays a granite slab with an inscription
honoring all of the heroic dogs who have served in our Armed
Forces. To find the actual cache itself, you will need to use the
information written on this piece of granite. While you may be able
to find a picture on-line, I suggest that you visit the site, since
one of the lines may be too hard to see in online photos.
They are brave and loyal. They fight and die for their comrades.
That they are dogs doesn't really matter. They have a place of
honor in American history.
They have been assisting human armies for thousands of years. By
the Middle Ages dogs wore coats of mail just as knights did. Later,
Benjamin Franklin wanted dogs to become a part of the colonial
militia.
The history of our war dogs began when a homeless bull terrier
wandered into a training camp of the army's 102nd Infantry at Yale
University. In World War I, the British, Belgian, Italian and
French armies trained thousands of dogs as messengers, sentries or
to find and comfort the wounded on the battlefield. On the other
side, the Germans deployed 7000 dogs, with thousands more in
reserve. But the U.S.Army had no such program.
Nevertheless, the homeless bull terrier that had wandered into the
Connecticut National Guard's training area had been named Stubby
and adopted as a mascot. Stubby went on to go overseas with the
102nd Infantry Regiment during World War I and save his regiment
from surprise mustard gas attacks and locating wounded soldiers --
earning the "unofficial war dog" a decoration for valor awarded by
General John Pershing.
It was not until 1942 the U.S. Armed Forces began it's first war
dog training program. By 1945 they had trained almost 10,000 war
dogs for the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Fifteen War
Dog platoons served overseas in World War II. Seven saw service in
Europe and eight in the Pacific. In 1951 the responsibility for
training military dogs was given to the Military Police Corps.
Most war dogs trained for World War II were German shepherds or
Labrador retrievers (for their superior noses), but the 3rd War Dog
Platoon consisted of all Dobermans. In the battle of Guam, a
Doberman named Kurt saved the lives of 250 Marines when he warned
them of Japanese troops ahead. Kurt is honored by a life-sized
bronze and granite memorial on Guam. Carved into the stone are
names of 25 other Dobermans who gave their lives there.
Michael Lemish, author of War Dogs: A History of Loyalty and
Heroism (Batsford Brassey), says canines can work as scouts,
trackers, messengers, and detectors of mines and booby traps. With
their sense of smell, they can detect enemy soldiers at 1,000
yards, hear the whine of a gentle breeze blowing over the tripwire
of a booby trap, and smell the breath of underwater saboteurs
breathing through a reed. In Vietnam, they were invaluable for
locating snipers and checking tunnels and huts.
Now, more than 30 years later, handlers still tell of their dogs'
heroics. Quoted in VFW magazine, handler Bill Peeler, with tears in
his eyes, talks about his dog, Rex. "I think of him most every day
and have his picture hanging in my office. He saved my life many
times."
On February 21, 2000, the War Dog Memorial was unveiled at March
Field Air Museum in Riverside, CA and an identical memorial was
dedicated October 8, 2000, (Columbus Day) at the National Infantry
Museum, Ft. Benning, Columbus, Ga. The 19-foot high bronze
memorials depict a combat-attired GI with a dog at his side. The
inscription reads: They protected us on the field of battle. They
watch over our eternal rest. We are grateful.
Through these ceremonies veterans hope to raise public awareness
about the life-saving canines.
This War Dog Memorial was dedicated in June of 2002 thanks to the
hard work of the American Legion Post 114.
Cache location N43° AB.CDE, W071° FG.HIJ
AB=Count the number of characters on the second line, this will
give you a two digit number
C=Count the number of “G”’s on the plaque
D=Add the numbers of “S”s plus the number of “2”s
E=Count the number of letters of the last two words of the third
line
F=Subtract the numbers in the order that they appear from each
other
G=Count the number of “W”s
H=Same as D
IJ=Count the number of letters on the entire plaque, again this
will be a two digit number
Located at the first waypoint there is also a monument to our
veterans of the two legged persuasion. Take a moment while there
and please respect the area. There is no need to do anything other
then read the inscription on the stone.
Make sure to bring along your own War Dog, the final has some
special dog items for the first few four legged cachers. I will
only vouch for the coordinates to get you within 30-50 feet, as the
tree cover is dense. The cache is hidden in a very geo-typical way.
Sign the log, trade an item, enjoy the area, and please replace
as found.
More Information
On War Dogs
Have fun! If you haven’t found Barrington Town Forest Cache
(GC77F2) plan on grabbing that while on your search. Hint,
hint….
Sharpee 
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Support the Troops
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