Animals in War

• Published date: 01 June 2012
• Date: 01 June 2012
• Author: Steven Johnston
• DOI: 10.1177/1065912910391982
• Subject Matter: Articles

Political Research Quarterly

65(2) 359 –371

© 2012 University of Utah

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DOI: 10.1177/1065912910391982

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For where animals are concerned there is always

love.

Jilly Cooper (2002)

Dogs do not build monuments to their dead.

William W. Putney (2003)

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress

can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

Gandhi (1997)

J’Accuse

On April 1, 2001, Richard Ben Cramer issued a polemic

entitled, “They Were Heroes Too,” published in Parade

Magazine. It reached an audience of millions (Cramer

2001). Cramer seemed intent on righting what he deemed

an obvious and longstanding wrong. When it comes to

war, the United States has perpetrated its share of civic

slights against those who served it. On the National Mall

in Washington, D.C., sacred symbolic space, the Vietnam

Veterans Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, and the

World War II Memorial pay tribute to veterans in wars that

were, respectively, reviled, forgotten, and ignored. One

would think that the completion of Friedrich St. Florian’s

grandiose World War II design settled memorial accounts.

Not so. One group of vets has not received its due.

Advocates have pushed for, among other things, a national

monument, a tree outside Arlington National Cemetery, a

commemorative postage stamp, and full inclusion in the

National Museum of American History. Each effort

resulted in failure, which does not mean efforts to secure

recognition ceased. Cramer assumes that if the country

knew of the patriotic crime being committed against some

of its most loyal denizens, surely a remedy would emerge.

Hence, the piece in Parade Magazine calling attention to

this sorry state of affairs and detailing the heroics of an

underappreciated band of brothers—the dogs we sent to

war to serve and die on our behalf.

Cramer’s reproach, whatever its merits, neglected

numerous memorial developments.1 To cite one example,

on July 21, 1994, the fiftieth anniversary of Guam’s inva-

sion, the Marine War Dog Memorial was unveiled at the

United States Marine Corps War Dog Cemetery on the

island. The memorial salutes 25 dogs killed “liberating

Guam in 1944.” Featuring the life-size rendering of a

deployed Doberman (Kurt), the statue sits on a pedestal

1Department of Government and International Affairs,

University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

Corresponding Author:

Steven Johnston, Department of Government and

International Affairs, SOC 107, University of South Florida,

4202 E. Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620

Email: sjohnsto@usf.edu

Animals in War: Commemoration,

Patriotism, Death

Steven Johnston1

Abstract

Patriotism poses a threat, not just to democracy but also to life itself. It finds expression in a new species of civic

memorial dedicated to animals. In wartime, the animal world, including dogs, horses, elephants, and mules, is forced

to serve. It is treated as militarily indispensable but also utterly disposable. Millions of animals have been killed in the

name of country—not despite the patriotic love professed for them, but precisely because of it. The treatment of

animals mimics the treatment of citizens and vice versa, where no sacrifice ultimately lies beyond justification. Thus,

patriotism’s dependence on and even addiction to death acquires added intensity and depth.

Keywords

patriotism, animals, war, commemoration, death