Chips (1940–1946) was a trained sentry dog for

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, and reputedly the most decorated war dog from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Chips was a

German Shepherd The German Shepherd or Alsatian is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899. It was originally bred as a herding dog, fo ...

Collie Collies form a distinctive type of herding dogs, including many related landraces and standardized breeds. The type originated in Scotland and Northern England. Collies are medium-sized, fairly lightly-built dogs, with pointed snouts. Man ...

- Malamute mix owned by Edward J. Wren of

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. He was bred by C.C. Moore, and was the son of Margot Jute, a half collie, half German shepherd, and Husky, a malamute. C.C. Moore eventually gifted Chips to the Wren family. Chips immediately grew attached to Wren's daughter, Gail, that he was often seen following her to school every day and laying underneath her desk. During playtime with other children, Chips was known to intervene, pulling the girls away if he thought they were in danger. During the war, private citizens like Wren donated their dogs for duty. Chips shipped out to the War Dog Training Center,

Front Royal, Virginia Front Royal is the only incorporated town in Warren County, Virginia, United States. The population was 15,011 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. History The entire Shenandoah Valley incl ...

, in 1942 for training as a sentry dog. He was one of four dogs assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division in

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Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. His handler was Pvt. John P. Rowell. Chips served as a sentry dog for the Roosevelt-Churchill conference in 1943. On July 10, 1943, Chips and his handler were pinned down on the beach by an Italian machine-gun team. Chips broke from his handler and jumped into the pillbox, attacking the gunners. The four crewmen were forced to leave the pillbox and surrendered to US troops. "There was an awful lot of noise," Rowell said. "Then I saw one fellow come out the door with Chips at his throat. I called him off before he could kill the man." In the fight, he sustained a scalp wound and

powder burn A powder burn is a type of burn caused by exposure to the combustion gases which are expelled from the muzzle of a firearm as it is fired. Powder burns only occur when the individual is in close proximity to the discharging firearm, as the gases q ...

s. Later that day, he helped take ten Italians prisoner. For his actions during the war, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross,

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an ...

and

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

; however, these awards were later revoked due to an Army policy preventing official commendation of animals. His unit unofficially awarded him a theater ribbon with an arrowhead for an assault landing, and battle stars for each of his eight campaigns. Chips was discharged in December 1945 and returned to the Wren family. In 1990,

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made a TV movie based on his life, entitled ''Chips, the War Dog''. In 2018, Chips was posthumously awarded the PDSA

Dickin Medal The PDSA Dickin Medal was instituted in 1943 in the United Kingdom by Maria Dickin to honour the work of animals in World War II. It is a bronze medallion, bearing the words "For Gallantry" and "We Also Serve" within a laurel wreath, carried ...

for his efforts during the war. In 2019, Chips was posthumously awarded the

Animals in War & Peace Medal of Bravery The Animals in War & Peace Medal of Bravery was instituted in 2019 in the United States by Robin Hutton and Mari Lou Livingood to honor the work of American animals in war and peace. The medal was created to be the American equivalent of the Dick ...

.The Washington Post, "U.S. animals now have a medal for wartime bravery", November 15, 201

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See also