Uploaded September 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, Swiss dog trainer William A. Prestre proposed that the United States military use dogs in the battlefield to find and attack Japanese soldiers by scent. The government agreed to fund his proposal for three months and selected 25 soldiers from the 100th Infantry Battalion’s 3rd Platoon who were then training at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. These recruits would travel from Wisconsin to the Gulf of Mexico in total secrecy to serve as attack dummies for dogs that were waiting for them on nearby Cat Island. Hear from Nisei veteran Robert Takashige as learns of what the secret mission entailed, the training schedule and his reaction to the notion that the Japanese had a distinct scent. The Go For Broke National Education Center's Hanashi Oral History Collection interview was conducted in 2005.
After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, Swiss dog trainer William A. Prestre proposed that the United States military use dogs in the battlefield to find and attack Japanese soldiers by scent. The government agreed to fund his proposal for three months and selected 25 soldiers from the 100th Infantry Battalion’s 3rd Platoon who were then training at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. These recruits would travel from Wisconsin to the Gulf of Mexico in total secrecy to serve as attack dummies for dogs that were waiting for them on nearby Cat Island. Hear from Nisei veteran Robert Takashige as learns of what the secret mission entailed, the training schedule and his reaction to the notion that the Japanese had a distinct scent. The Go For Broke National Education Center's Hanashi Oral History Collection interview was conducted in 2005.
