"Dog Face Soldier"

As of last Friday, I turned in my final assignment. It was nice to get everything off of my plate! As a result, I head to my new unit in just a few weeks. I will be the Chaplain of the 3rd Brigade Support Battalion of the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry division.

I am really looking forward to it. Since I'm heading to the 3rd ID, I will take some time throughout the coming weeks to share some historical information about the division. The 3rd ID is a very historic division serving in many conflicts with quite a few distinct honors.

But to begin this process, the soldiers of the 3rd ID are known as "Dog Face Soldiers." I'll quote from the 3rd ID site to explain how this division hooked up with Disney to create the picture you see at the top of this post:

"'I'm just a Dog Face Soldier, with a rifle on my shoulder.' So go the words of the division's theme song. Thanks to the creative genius of Walt Disney Productions, that 'Dog Face Soldier' was caricatured into a tan bulldog: 'heroic, but humble, fierce, but gentle, quick-witted and wise, with a confidence and dignity that comes from having proved himself.'

Major General Albert O. Connor, a Third Division commander, visualized verbally what he wanted for a 'Dog Face Soldier,' Walt Disney Productions complied and the caricature was created.

All it cost was one dollar. The bull-dog face soldier is the result of an exchange of letters between General Connor and Walt Disney Productions. In one of his letters to Disney, General Connor explained: 'For many years, the 3rd Infantry Division has been seeking a trademark based on the symbolism of the 'Dog Face Soldier.' The term 'dog face,' he continued, 'is an old one in our Army, dating back to the Indian Wars.'

The division received the final design of the bull-dog face soldier in August 1965. Along with the drawing came a contract granting exclusive and perpetual right and license to reproduce the drawing. The one dollar bill provided by the Marne Association was autographed by the division's Sergeants Major. Along with the autographed bill, which was framed, a letter of thanks to Walt Disney and his staff was sent for bringing to life the verbal conception of a song.

Since then, generations of Marne Soldiers have carried on the tradition of singing the division's song at morning formations and other official functions. Upon joining the 3rd Infantry Division, Soldiers are required to memorize the lyrics as part of the proud Marne heritage."


(excerpt copied from here)


Yes, I have already downloaded the song from i-tunes to begin the process of memorizing it. I may load a youtube video of the song in a couple days to give everyone the chance to hear. For those of you that have never been a part of the military, these types of songs and images are very important to the esprit de corps of a unit. They link soldiers of today with those in the past, making the stylistic differences from whatever era's "pop" music, unimportant.

So, in the coming weeks, sit back and learn more about the 3rd Infantry Division's illustrious heritage.



Rob