BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

by Bob Walsh

A U. S. Army K-9 has just received a well-deserved but obviously posthumous medal for conspicuous bravery during WW II.

Chips was a German Shepherd-Husky mix who hit the beach with attacking forces in Sicily in 1943. He attacked and Italian machine gun emplacement, killed one Italian soldier and dismounted the machine gun in the process. The pooch survived not only the battle but the war and was returned to his previous owner in Pleasantville, N.Y. He had been donated to the U. S,. Army to support the war effort in 1942.

Chips received the Dicken Medal, the highest award available to animals in Britain. It was accepted by John Wren, 76, whose father donated the dog initially. The British honor was apparently connected to a veterinary charity in the U.K.