A good boy that served: Pal, the Jefferson Park war dog who returned home

All his family knew was that he spent thirty-one months overseas. When he returned to his Jefferson Park home in early 1946, the army veteran was quiet about his service record. This omission of details was not born out of a reluctance to speak about the war. Infact, he had many colorful tales to tell- if he could talk. The veteran was Pal, a German Shepard, who served as a military working dog.

Pal goes off to war

Pal was a German Shepard from the Jefferson Park neighborhood of Chicago. Born sometime around 1938, not much else biographical information has survived about the dog. Presumably he enjoyed a comfortable life as a house pet to a loving couple at 5909 Mason Avenue. His owners were Mr. and Mrs. James C. Moreland, the husband having been a prominent real-estate developer and local politician.

James Moreland (1886-1975) came from humble beginnings. He was born in a log cabin in rural Kentucky and moved to Chicago in 1908, where he established the successful home building firm of James C. Moreland & Son. The Kentucky native joined the Northwest Real Estate Board, rose to the position of president, and entered local politics, making an unsuccessful bid as the Republican candidate for the Seventh Congressional District in 1930. Despite the loss, James led a victorious campaign the following year for alderman of Chicago’s 41st Ward and held this seat until 1935.²

When the United States entered the Second World War, the Morelands were like any other patriotic American family. Mr. and Mrs. Moreland said goodbye to family members leaving for military service. They adhered to rationing and limited their consumption of basic goods. Unlike most other families the Morelands bid farewell to their beloved four-legged companion, Pal.

Dogs for Defense, Inc.

American canines served honorably in the war just as their human counterparts. But before thousands could serve, some persuasion was necessary. Although the American military used dogs in the First World War, like the famous Sgt. Stubby, relatively few were actually employed, and the practice was largely abandoned thereafter.

Thus came the formation of Dogs for Defense, Inc. (DFD), not long after the Attack on Pearl Harbor. The group was a conglomerate of dog fanciers, breeders, trainers, kennel club members, veterinarians, and others, all sharing a love of dogs, who believed that dogs could make a significant contribution towards the American war effort. Its first objective was to convince military leaders of the potential of sentry dogs.

Eventually the Army embraced working dogs and created its K-9 Corps on 13 March 1942. In the beginning, DFD trained dogs but after the Army began to establish its own training centers in August 1942, a more efficient and economical system, its role was relegated to procurement.³

In its search of canines, DFD created a network of regions administered by directors it appointed. Directors organized his or her territory into districts, selected assistants, and oversaw committees assigned to the procurement, inspection, and shipment of dogs. Their power was purely persuasive, forcing directors to engage the public through speeches, press, and radio. Owners who relinquished their dogs to DFD did so as a free and unconditional gift. There was no promise of the dogs’ return upon completion of service- if they survived.

Acting as the directors for DFD in Illinois were Gerald E. Murphy and Dr. W. A. Young, both of Chicago and elected on 10 November 1942. They managed a large force of one hundred thirty-nine volunteers.⁴

The first shipment of dogs recruited in the Chicago area departed the city on 4 October 1942. It contained thirty-seven recruits. Attending the sendoff were many of the dogs’ owners and several journalists, who recorded the rather somber event:

They [the dogs] left behind them a group of lonesome youngsters who, until the last minute, had kneeled on the concrete floor of the express office to stick their fingers thru the doors of their dogs' crates to feel one last friendly lick of their pets' tongues.5

Discharged from military service

Once the war ended in 1945, the US Armed Forces underwent a significant reduction in manpower. Millions of soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines, became demobilized, quickly settling down to civilian jobs and families. Soon the American landscape became redefined by suburban sprawl, with the construction of extensive highway networks, the meteoric rise of real estate developments, and the mass exodus of populations moving away from cities. But whatever happened to military working dogs who served faithfully in the war?

Most of the dogs returned to their original owners. The postwar Army, for instance, retained four platoons in its K-9 Corps but no longer had any need for its remaining canines, numbering some eight thousand. In cases where return was not possible, due to a change in circumstances, or them having come from pounds, the dogs went up for adoption. They were trained to re-adjust to civilian life before discharge.⁶

In the case of Mr. and Mrs. Moreland’s Pal, he returned to Fort Robinson in November 1945 for reprograming. He spent a total of thirty-four months in the Army of which thirty-one were overseas. His final delivery occurred in early 1946. Upon seeing Mrs. Moreland for the first time in almost three years, Pal went berserk and jumped to embrace his mistress, then dashed inside the house, where he ran about madly as he found each room, corner, and resting spot, exactly as he had left it.

Pal’s transition to civilian life was seemingly without difficulty. He resumed his regular routine of respectfully waiting by the kitchen door for handouts. At night he slept outside the bedrooms in the hallway, maintaining a vigilant guard as he had in the military and in civilian life before.

The Army never did disclose Pal’s service record. Whether he fought the Germans or Japanese is unknown. All that Mrs. Moreland knew was that Pal was the same dog except even better- heavier and sporting a glossier coat. Pal was fed well as evidenced by his daily meal, while in training, its formula provided to the Morelands:

...a mixture of three-quarters of a pound of raw horse meat, one-half pound cooked horse meat, one-half pound of corn meal, and one-quarter pound of rolled oats.

Particularly eagerly awaiting the return of Pal was the Moreland’s granddaughter, Joyce Ann Pisors. A press photographer managed to capture a beautiful moment in which the reacquainted friends bonded by a fireplace.⁷

1. ‘Pal Returns Home as Civilian’, Spectator [Edgebrook and Sauganash, IL.], 14 March 1946, pg. 1, preserved in newspaper collection, Niles Historical and Cultural Center (NHCC) [Niles, IL.]
2. The obituary for James C. Moreland was published in the Chicago Tribune edition of 26 October 1975, page A22. Retrieved from ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune. Accessed 10 May 2022.
3. A history of Dogs for Defense, Inc. is found in Fairfax Downey, Dogs for Defense: American Dogs in the Second World War. New York: Trustees of Dogs For Defense, Inc., 1955.
4. A list of the volunteers’ names is contained in Downey, Dogs for Defense, pp.133-4.
5. Ben Markland, 'Dogs of War Join Army; Kids Weep', Chicago Daily Tribune, 05 October 1942, pg. 1. Retrieved from ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune. Accessed 18 February 2022.
6. An entire chapter is devoted history of the return of war dogs in Downey, Dogs for Defense, pp.108-113.
7. ‘His Work Done, Pal Returns to Native Dogdom’, Chicago Daily Tribune, 10 March 1946, pg. 1. Retrieved from ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune. Accessed 18 February 2022.