December 29, 2022 • 28 mins
Only one thing stood between a town's survival: 674 miles of unforgiving terrain in the worst arctic weather conditions in 20 years. Boats, planes, and trains could not get through. And that left the town with one hope: sled dogs.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
You're listening to American Shadows, a production of I Heart
Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaronmankey. Nothing had prepared
the soldiers for the jungles thick with foliage, deadly snakes,
and land mines. The enemy planted trip wires and waited
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in tunnels. No amount of technology seemed enough to gain
an edge, so they relied on something else to find
and alert them to hidden dangers. Dogs. Between four and
five thousand US military canines served in the Vietnam War.
The military accredits the dogs for saving at least ten
thousand lives. For perspective, picture the Vietnam Memorial Wall, with
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its some fifty eight thousand names etched in nearly five
feet of marble, standing ten feet high at its peak.
Now imagine an additional ten thousand names. Dogs did what
technolog g could not. In addition to sniffing out danger
and weapon stashes, they doubled as trackers and sentry guards,
and aided soldiers in taking down armed men. Dogs even
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smelled enemy soldiers breath through reeds as they lay in
wait beneath river waters. The canines endured the heat and
enemy fire, but not for fame or money. They worked
for the love and praise of their handlers. Most of
the dogs bonded so tightly with the soldiers that they
often stayed by their fallen bodies, to their own detriment.
Military canines were so good at their jobs that they
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became targets Enemy forces earned rewards for a handler's service
patch or a dog's tattooed ear. About three hundred and
fifty canines and two hundred and sixty handlers were killed
in action. A countless more were injured. In the morning
of December four of nineteen sixty six, twenty two year
old airmen Bob Thronberg smiled at Nemo, his German shepherd.
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You're a good boy, Throneberg told him. At home, families
prepared for the holidays, unaware that the base Throneberg and
others were stationed at had been under assault from a
barrage of mortar fire. Throneberg and Nemo set out on
patrol among the chaos of medics and soldiers, searching for
the injured in piles of rubble. The thick heat was
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nearly unbearable for man and beast. Nemo trotted off ahead
for several yards when he detected an armed man ahead
of him, a Throneberg shot the enemy soldier. At three am,
Nemo detected another Vietnamese guerrilla, and Throneberg sent Nemo after him.
A gunfire erupted, hitting both Nemo and Throneberg. Though hurt,
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Nemo continued to fight while Throneberg called for backup. Thronberg
managed to shoot the second guerrilla before collapsing, and Nemo
returned to him. He whined as he lay across him,
protecting him until backup arrived. Good boy, Thronberg said. When
help arrived, Nemo cried as medics took Thronberg away. Both
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received medical treatment. Later, the two were reunited at the
base hospital. It was a brief reunion. The Throneberg was
airlifted to Japan for further treatment. He never saw Nemo again.
Throneberg recovered. He received the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star,
though he credited Nemo as the hero. That day, he
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and Nemo had taken out two enemies soldiers. All told,
Canine forces took out a dozen guerrillas that night. Nemo
also recovered from his wounds, though he lost an eye.
He was five years old when the military retired him.
He received no medals, no awards. However, Nemo did receive
something much rarer for canine soldiers. He was returned to
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the Department of Defense Dog Center, where he lived to
be eleven. Others were not as fortunate. When the US
left Vietnam, handlers wanted to bring their dogs home, most
were denied. The military euthanized some dogs and abandoned others.
Only two hundred of over four thousand canines returned home.
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In the year two thousand, President Clinton signed Robbie's Law,
named after a brave canine that, like other dogs, fought
in wars that were not theirs. But with this law,
the military could no longer consider dogs as equipment and
euthanized them after their life of service. It also allowed
their handlers to adopt them. Nemo and Robbie were very
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good dogs who saved lives, but they weren't the only ones.
I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. Welcome to American Shadows. Their lineage dates
back thousands of years. Part of the Spitz family of dogs,
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the Siberian husky became an integral part of the chip
Shee people's survival in the harsh Siberian landscape during the
day the dogs pulled sleds. At night, they slept with
their families and kept them warm. Innuit people has also
kept the dogs and took them when they migrated to
the North americ An Arctic. Able to withstand temperatures most
animals and other dogs cannot, the Siberian husky made survival possible. Still,
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the breed remained unknown for those in the American West
until the Alaskan Gold Rush of eight sled dogs became essential,
especially in remote Gnome, Alaska, just a hundred and sixty
miles south of the Arctic Circle. Nome winters are cold,
dark and isolated. In October of that year, the last
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supplies arrived by boat. In November, ice prevented ships from
approaching the port, leaving residents on their own. Neither horse
nor mule could make the journey along the Ideental Rod
Trail during the long winter months, Nome residents needed sled
dogs to make the trip to larger towns for supplies.
The dogs also helped pass the time. In the early
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nineteen hundreds, sled dog racing became a popular sport for
Alaskan colonists. Of The driver, also known as a musher,
wrote a sled pulled by several dogs. The first All
Alaska Sweepstakes race took place in nineteen o seven. By
nineteen o nine, Norwegian born Leonard Seppola had made a
name for himself in racing and breeding the best sled dogs.
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In nineteen ten, the winners at a course record was
some of Seppola's smaller scrappy dogs, bred mostly of stock
from Siberia. Typically, a trip from Nana, Alaska, to Nome
took thirty days, the fastest records set first sled team
took nine and though airplanes replaced many sled dog teams
in other Alaskan towns during the nineteen twenties, in Gnome,
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dogs were still a way of life for Indigenous and
European people's alike, delivering mail supplies and traveling to shops
and businesses. When the snow came and I settled, the
people of Nome were on their own until the spring
thaw in nineteen twenty four was particularly cold and harsh,
and gnomes only doctor Curtis Welsh was uneasy. It started
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when a boy came in with labored breathing and the sore.
Though Welsh did everything possible, the boy died. The next day.
Within days, other children arrived with the same symptoms. Soon,
both young and old were coming down with the illness
Welsh dreaded diphtheria. The Welsh had stockpiled what he thought
the town might need, but he couldn't plan for everything.
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The disease can be fatal if not treated. In time,
bacteria settles in the lungs, where it produces toxins. Those
toxins caused the death of respiratory tissue. As the dead
tissue accumulates, the airway becomes clogged, making breathing difficult. Other
complications involving the kidney and heart may also occur. Essentially,
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diphtheria kills by poisoning and asphyxiation. Children were bounced at risk,
generally killing one in ten affected. Today, we have a
vaccine that has all but eliminated the illness. However, back
in the nineteen twenties, the disease reached epidemic proportions. There
was a cure, though, and anti talks and seram to
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create it. Horses were given increased levels of diphtheria toxins,
to which they built up anti toxins. Then laboratories made
seram from the horse's blood. However, Nome didn't have laboratories
or access to many horses, and though doctor Welch had
some anti toxin on hand, it had expired with no
immunity to the disease. Diphtherorius spread through the town like wildfire.
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Without fresh anti toxin, Doctor Welsh estimated a one fatality
rate based on the cases so far. He called an
emergency meeting with Mayor George Maynard. The two quickly set
up a quarantine as a temporary measure to slow down
the spread of the disease while they put out a
call for anti toxin. Fortunately, Anchorage had enough serum. Unfortunately,
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Anchorage was a thousand miles away. Time was running out
for the people in Nome. The disease was highly contagious
and death often occurred just days after infection. Welsh and
Maynard needed to find a way to get the serum
and quickly. Glasgow's governor made it possible to transport the
serum from Anchorage to Nanana by rail. The ice made
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delivering the serum the rest of the way by boat impossible.
Planes had open cockpits and water cooled engines at the time,
making the trip by air a suicide mission. The town
survival came down to the sled dogs, but this time
they wouldn't have thirty days or even nine to make
the trip. The call went out asking for help from
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every sled team along the idea rod trail from Nanana
to Rome that have to set up relay teams between
the two points to beat the clock. It wouldn't be easy.
The teams would mostly be running in the dark. Daylight
during Arctic winters is scarce. In addition, the serum had
to be kept from freezing, a near impossible feat considering
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it was January, and even if they managed to keep
the serum stable, it had a shelf life of just
six days, requiring the dogs to make the trip three
days faster than the record run. They needed the best
drivers and the fastest dogs. A ragtag group of natives
and settlers signed up like their dogs. The men were
healthy and fit, and all of them were young, except one,
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forty two year old Leonard Seppola. Though he had the experience,
his age put him past the prime for such a
grueling undertaking. His lead dog, Togo, was also aging at twelve.
The journey would likely kill him, but both man and
dog had a vested steak in the matter. Seppola had
a young daughter and a solid commitment to the town.
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Togo had an equally strong commitment to Seppola, a devotion
had had since he was a puppy. Seppola had taken
a little longer to commit to such a bond. Togo
had been born the only pup in the litter. His
dark brown coat and piercing blue eyes might have stolen
anyone else's heart, but Togo was small and initially unhealthy,
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and as far as Seppla was concerned, looks didn't get
the job done, and he had little interest in the pup,
so he gave Togo away, but Togo refused to belong
to anyone else. He jumped through a window and, remarkably
for such a young puppy, found his way home. Resigned
to keeping Togo, Seppola put him in a pen when
he took the other dogs out to train. Togo had
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other ideas. He dug under or climbed over every pen,
then raced off to find Seppola and the team, often
causing havoc when he did. Too young to harness. Sepola
did his best to keep Togo from escaping, but nothing worked. Finally,
when Togo was eight months old and had managed to
escape and find the team again, Sepola harnessed him up
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with the rest of the team. Got first day, Togo
ran seventy five miles on break. Sepola continued moving Togo
closer to the front. By the end of the day,
he had become the lead dog. In a short time,
Seppola had the best lead dog had ever owned. Togo stamina, intelligence,
and devotion to Seppola became legendary and known so With
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so many lives in the balance, Seppola had to choose
twenty of his best dogs for the journey. He had
a younger dog named Bolto, but felt the dog didn't
have what it takes to make the treacherous journey had
been assigned a Seppla lent Bolto to another musher to
make the best time. Each team was assigned at thirty
miles stretch, all except Seppola and Togo. The two would
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have to make an incredible ninety one mile run over
the trail's most hazardous terrain. They made their way to
a cabin near the rendezvous point and waited as the
train pulled into Nanana. The weather worsened, A blinding snowstorm formed,
and temperatures dropped to sixty degrees below zero fahrenheit. While
every driver knew they needed to be fast, they also
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knew that if they ran their dogs too fast, their
lungs would frost and the dogs would dive exposure. Winds howled,
and the snow came down hard. Bill Shannon and his
team pulled away from the train station. The Great Mercy
Run had begun. Shannon ended up taking on fifty two
miles of the run in the worst of the weather.
He arrived at the transfer point and suffering from hypothermia,
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his face black with frost bite. Four of his dogs died.
The temperature warmed slightly, though the next driver and team
still encountered gale force winds and blinding snow, and drivers
and dogs persisted handing off the seram to the next team.
The driver who passed the seram to Seppola told him
cases of diphtheria had risen and warned him that a
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storm was headed his way. Seppola got his team ready
and set out in temperatures of negative thirty degrees fahrenheit
with a wind chill of negative eighty five. By the
time they stopped for rest at a roadhouse, Togo had
led the team eighty four miles. The dogs were exhausted,
and they settled in for some rest. The winds kicked
up outside, reminding Seppola they couldn't rest for long. M
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With just six hours of sleep, they set out again,
the storm raging around them. Seppela had a choice to make.
If he took a short cut, he'd save forty two miles,
but that short cut would take him and the team
across the sound. In the past, other teams had risked
the ice and poor weather, only to find themselves stranded
on the ice floating out to sea, and on a
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previous journey, the unthinkable had happened to them. When Seppola
and the team had found themselves stranded on the ice,
he had unharnessed Togo and tossed him onto a larger block,
Hoping Togo understood what he needed him to do. Pulled Togo, pull,
and Togo had the ice Seppola and the team were
stranded on drew close enough to drive the team across. Now,
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Seppola had a decision and take the long way and
save himself and the team, but risked the Sarah expiring
or risk their lives. Seppola looked at the team and
met with Togo's ice blue eyes. They've done it before,
they'd do it again. Togo and the team took off
across the ice, sliding and skittering. They were now in
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a race for their lives, though they didn't know it,
the storm had started to break up the ice on
the Norton Sound. By the time Seppla heard the ice
cracking around them, they couldn't turn around. He urged Togo
to keep running, to keep moving the team forward so
they wouldn't panic, and Togo instinctively steered them away from
the danger and led the team to shore. Once they
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were safely away from ice and firmly back on land,
they found an inuit iglu, where Seppla fed the team
and slept. The shortcut had saved them an entire day.
They rested a few hours and set out again. Houses
and rest stops dotted the snow drifts along the way.
A telegram had been sent to tell the drivers to
stop at them frequently to rest and get warm, but
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Seppola never received the messages. He and Togo pushed on
toward a ridge line across the north summit of what's
now called Anali Mountain. Seppola and Togo had experience on
such trails, which was why they had been selected to
cross the mountain, but they'd never done it in weather
like this. There were no trees to block the wind,
the way up and down was steep, and the ridge
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was narrow. If they lost their footing, they'd perish. There
were touch and go moments on their descent when the
team slid down the mountain. Seppola relied on Togo to
keep the team from danger or going too fast. By
the time they made it to the rendezvous point, the
team was exhausted and twelve year old Togo had given
it everything he had left. Seppola handed off the serum
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to the next driver, Charlie Olson. On February one, after
his run, Olsen handed off the serum to gunner Casson,
who had put Bolto on his team. Casson and Balto
faced near whiteout conditions. Balto helped keep the team on
course until an eighty mile an hour wind toppled the sled,
throwing Cassin, the dogs and the serum into the snow.
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Casson removed his gloves and frantically searched for the fur
wrapped package with his bare hands. He found him right
at the sled and pushed on to the next meeting point,
where the last team would take the serum into town.
Except they weren't there. There's controversy at this point in
the history. Some say Casson wanted to be the one
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to bring the serum into Gnome. Others say that with
the clock ticking and the storm raging, he couldn't afford
to wait. Either way, Casson pushed on, making it to
Gnome on February second. A hero's welcome greeted him and
the team. Casson, exhausted and relieved, handed the serum to
doctor Welch. He staggered to the front of the team,
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hugged Bolto, and collapsed. Welsh administered the serum to the sick.
No more cases were reported, and the town was saved.
Welsh had enough to treat everyone who needed help, with
just two doses to spare. The drivers and their teams
returned home again to rest and recover. The Great Mercy
Run was over. They had beaten the odds. A hundred
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and fifty sled dogs made the run. They traveled six
hundred and seventy four miles in five and a half days,
shattering the old record of nine A few of the
dogs died giving their lives to save human life, and
Togo was not one of them. After a much deserved rest,
he and Seppla returned home. The Great Mercy Run had
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captivated the country during those five and a half days.
People everywhere anxiously awaited reports on the dog's journey, and
newspapers splashed updates on the front page. Radio stations gave
them by the hour. Americans were on the edge of
their seats when the New York Times reported that a
major blizzard struck as the dogs approached Nome, and celebrations
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erupted when the seram made it and the town was saved.
President Calvin Coolidge presented every musher with the letter of recognition,
and even the Senate took notice, and stopping their work
long enough to honor the men and their dogs who
had braved horrender its conditions to save the lives of
thousands of people. People couldn't get enough of the story,
and though twenty men and a hundred and fifty dogs
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had participated, one stood out above all others. Balto, Gunnar
Casson and Balto had been the ones to arrive in
Nome with the serum. A. Seppeler knew the team that
made the trip into town would be the most celebrated.
He didn't care so much for himself, but he did
for Togo. A Balto was a great dog. All the
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dogs were, but it had been twelve year old Togo
who had taken on the roughest, most dangerous terrain. A
six year old Bolto ran an incredible fifty three miles
at twice his age. Togo had traveled two hundred and
sixty one miles, over a third of the six hundred
and seventy four our mile run. It had been Togo
that traveled the ridgeline and across the ice, and Seppola's
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decision to go across the sound saved an entire day.
Had he chosen the initial path, that Sarah would have expired. Books, movies, magazines,
and papers wanted to hear Balto's story, though Balto symbolized
the race he and Casson towards the States. Balto was
president at the unveiling of his statue in New York
Central Park, but after a while Casson grew homesick, Balto
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and the other dogs weren't with him when he finally
returned to Alaska. It's unclear why the poor Balto and
the team were shipped across the country as part of
the vaudeville circuit, until George Kimball, who was organizing a
children's campaign, came across the heroic canine at a side show.
Balto and the other dogs had been chained living in
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deplorable conditions, and Kimball rescued the dogs and found them
a permanent home at the Cleveland Zoo. Balto lived the
rest of his life there until he died in nineteen
thirty three, and Togo and Seppola toured for a while
as well. They even went back to sled racing in
Maine and easily bested the local dogs, but Togo was
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growing older and Seppola retired him, Agreeing to a breeding
program in Maine. Togo sired many litters, Seppola reached his
dream of the perfect sled dog separate from Siberian huskies.
Togo's line became a separate breed, the Seppola Siberian. Seppela
returned to Alaska, but continued to visit his beloved dog.
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Togo passed away a few years later, at the age
of sixteen. He died having lived his retirement and comfort
well cared for and deeply loved. Leonard Seppela died in
nineteen sixty seven at the age of eighty nine. Zeppola
said he had never had a dog with more intelligence, courage, stamina,
or loyalty than Togo, but his story and heroism faded
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from history. Decades later, historians uncovered the story and helped
shine a light on Togo as the true hero. In
twenty nineteen, a Sepalss Siberian named Diesel portrayed Togo in
Disney's adaptation of The Seram Run. As it turns out,
Diesel was an easy choice for the studio. He not
only resembled Togo, but he was also his great grandson
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fourteen generations back. There's more to this story. Stick around
after this brief sponsor break to hear all about it.
Working dogs are a relatively common sight, either trained as
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police dogs or to aid people with disabilities or illnesses.
Dogs truly have become human kind's best friend, and in
September of two thousand one, America became familiar with two
other types of working dogs, search and rescue and SIR
and recovery. After the attack on the Twin Towers on
September eleven, three hundred dogs and their handlers converged on
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Ground zero. Search and rescue dogs have been used for decades,
from locating people lost in snowstorms and the wilderness, to
national disasters like Hurricane Katrina and incidents like the Oklahoma
City bombing. Still few Americans knew the scope of what
it meant to be a dog or handler for search
and rescue. But at Ground Zero, people glued to their
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televisions had never seen anything like it. After the horror
of watching the building's collapse, people falling from buildings and
runnings so covered through the streets, others ran toward the buildings,
and in the aftermath, rescue workers continued to shift through
the rubble in the hopes of finding human life. Dogs
climbed over concrete, glass and unstable debris to detect life below.
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Twenty seven hours after the buildings had collapsed, a rescue
dog found the last survivor days lay there. The search
and rescue teams made way for dogs trained in search
and recovery The search proved difficult for the cadaver dogs,
as it turns out, finding body after body is psychologically
taxing for them too. To combat the dog's depression, handlers
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created mock fines so the dogs found some living people.
Denise Corliss was one of those handlers. Corliss, volunteer firefighter
with the Sci Faire Fire Department in Texas, arrived with
two year old Brittany, a Golden Retriever. Corliss had been
training with Brittany since the pup was just eight months old.
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The pair had completed female Certification. Nine eleven was Brittany's
first assignment. While Brittany took her job seriously sniffing through
and climbing over rubble for twelve hours a day for
nearly two solid weeks, she had a softer side too.
Of finding so many bodies took its toll on the
rescue workers, and Brittany also discouraged sought out firefighters who
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just needed a hug and a wet nose. Soon, rescue
workers sought out Brittany for one of her famous golden
smiles and a quick hug. The firefighters began to share
stories with Corless in the debris were missing. Friends and
co workers of Brittany not only served as a recovery dog,
but she had also become a therapy dog. After not eleven,
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Corless and Brittany went on to other assignments. Hurricanes Rita,
Ivan and Katrina of Brittany did precisely what she had
been trained to do, despite the dangers. Once Brittany found
herself standing precariously on a dangling staircase, injury and death
are real possibilities for the dogs. A Corless admitted to
a reporter that she held her breadth on many occasions
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while Brittany worked. Life as a search and rescue or
search and recovery dog is hard and demanded. Brittany retired
at age nine, though she remained active. She visited the
scy Fair Firehouse regularly, where she continued to bring her
golden smile and warm to the firefighters. She made television appearances,
and she enjoyed going to elementary schools, where she listened
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patiently and without judgment as children practiced their reading skills
with her. But, as anyone with the dog knows all
too well, their lives are too short. And when Brittany's
kidneys failed and nothing more could be done. Corlis honored
her beloved dog with dignity, choosing to be with her
when the veterinarian euthanized her. Oh. When word got out
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about nine eleven's last surviving search and recovery dog, firefighters
and first responders lined up outside the clinic, They stood
at attention and saluted Brittany as Corlis led her inside.
Tired and in pain, Brittany managed to wag her tail.
Then they waited. When Corliss reappeared with Brittany's body draped
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with an American flag, they saluted her one final time.
Heroic dogs are indeed special, but dog love is also
know that nineteenth century humorist Josh Billings had it right
when he said, a dog is the only thing on
earth that loves you more than he loves himself. American
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Shadows is hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. This episode was written
by Michelle Muto, researched by Ali Steed, and produced by
Miranda Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive producers Aaron Mankey,
Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn more about the show,
visit Grim and Mild dot com. From more podcasts from
iHeart Radio. Visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or
(27:39):
wherever you get your podcasts.
You're listening to American Shadows, a production of I Heart
Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaronmankey. Nothing had prepared
the soldiers for the jungles thick with foliage, deadly snakes,
and land mines. The enemy planted trip wires and waited
(00:23):
in tunnels. No amount of technology seemed enough to gain
an edge, so they relied on something else to find
and alert them to hidden dangers. Dogs. Between four and
five thousand US military canines served in the Vietnam War.
The military accredits the dogs for saving at least ten
thousand lives. For perspective, picture the Vietnam Memorial Wall, with
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its some fifty eight thousand names etched in nearly five
feet of marble, standing ten feet high at its peak.
Now imagine an additional ten thousand names. Dogs did what
technolog g could not. In addition to sniffing out danger
and weapon stashes, they doubled as trackers and sentry guards,
and aided soldiers in taking down armed men. Dogs even
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smelled enemy soldiers breath through reeds as they lay in
wait beneath river waters. The canines endured the heat and
enemy fire, but not for fame or money. They worked
for the love and praise of their handlers. Most of
the dogs bonded so tightly with the soldiers that they
often stayed by their fallen bodies, to their own detriment.
Military canines were so good at their jobs that they
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became targets Enemy forces earned rewards for a handler's service
patch or a dog's tattooed ear. About three hundred and
fifty canines and two hundred and sixty handlers were killed
in action. A countless more were injured. In the morning
of December four of nineteen sixty six, twenty two year
old airmen Bob Thronberg smiled at Nemo, his German shepherd.
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You're a good boy, Throneberg told him. At home, families
prepared for the holidays, unaware that the base Throneberg and
others were stationed at had been under assault from a
barrage of mortar fire. Throneberg and Nemo set out on
patrol among the chaos of medics and soldiers, searching for
the injured in piles of rubble. The thick heat was
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nearly unbearable for man and beast. Nemo trotted off ahead
for several yards when he detected an armed man ahead
of him, a Throneberg shot the enemy soldier. At three am,
Nemo detected another Vietnamese guerrilla, and Throneberg sent Nemo after him.
A gunfire erupted, hitting both Nemo and Throneberg. Though hurt,
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Nemo continued to fight while Throneberg called for backup. Thronberg
managed to shoot the second guerrilla before collapsing, and Nemo
returned to him. He whined as he lay across him,
protecting him until backup arrived. Good boy, Thronberg said. When
help arrived, Nemo cried as medics took Thronberg away. Both
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received medical treatment. Later, the two were reunited at the
base hospital. It was a brief reunion. The Throneberg was
airlifted to Japan for further treatment. He never saw Nemo again.
Throneberg recovered. He received the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star,
though he credited Nemo as the hero. That day, he
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and Nemo had taken out two enemies soldiers. All told,
Canine forces took out a dozen guerrillas that night. Nemo
also recovered from his wounds, though he lost an eye.
He was five years old when the military retired him.
He received no medals, no awards. However, Nemo did receive
something much rarer for canine soldiers. He was returned to
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the Department of Defense Dog Center, where he lived to
be eleven. Others were not as fortunate. When the US
left Vietnam, handlers wanted to bring their dogs home, most
were denied. The military euthanized some dogs and abandoned others.
Only two hundred of over four thousand canines returned home.
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In the year two thousand, President Clinton signed Robbie's Law,
named after a brave canine that, like other dogs, fought
in wars that were not theirs. But with this law,
the military could no longer consider dogs as equipment and
euthanized them after their life of service. It also allowed
their handlers to adopt them. Nemo and Robbie were very
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good dogs who saved lives, but they weren't the only ones.
I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. Welcome to American Shadows. Their lineage dates
back thousands of years. Part of the Spitz family of dogs,
(04:43):
the Siberian husky became an integral part of the chip
Shee people's survival in the harsh Siberian landscape during the
day the dogs pulled sleds. At night, they slept with
their families and kept them warm. Innuit people has also
kept the dogs and took them when they migrated to
the North americ An Arctic. Able to withstand temperatures most
animals and other dogs cannot, the Siberian husky made survival possible. Still,
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the breed remained unknown for those in the American West
until the Alaskan Gold Rush of eight sled dogs became essential,
especially in remote Gnome, Alaska, just a hundred and sixty
miles south of the Arctic Circle. Nome winters are cold,
dark and isolated. In October of that year, the last
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supplies arrived by boat. In November, ice prevented ships from
approaching the port, leaving residents on their own. Neither horse
nor mule could make the journey along the Ideental Rod
Trail during the long winter months, Nome residents needed sled
dogs to make the trip to larger towns for supplies.
The dogs also helped pass the time. In the early
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nineteen hundreds, sled dog racing became a popular sport for
Alaskan colonists. Of The driver, also known as a musher,
wrote a sled pulled by several dogs. The first All
Alaska Sweepstakes race took place in nineteen o seven. By
nineteen o nine, Norwegian born Leonard Seppola had made a
name for himself in racing and breeding the best sled dogs.
(06:11):
In nineteen ten, the winners at a course record was
some of Seppola's smaller scrappy dogs, bred mostly of stock
from Siberia. Typically, a trip from Nana, Alaska, to Nome
took thirty days, the fastest records set first sled team
took nine and though airplanes replaced many sled dog teams
in other Alaskan towns during the nineteen twenties, in Gnome,
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dogs were still a way of life for Indigenous and
European people's alike, delivering mail supplies and traveling to shops
and businesses. When the snow came and I settled, the
people of Nome were on their own until the spring
thaw in nineteen twenty four was particularly cold and harsh,
and gnomes only doctor Curtis Welsh was uneasy. It started
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when a boy came in with labored breathing and the sore.
Though Welsh did everything possible, the boy died. The next day.
Within days, other children arrived with the same symptoms. Soon,
both young and old were coming down with the illness
Welsh dreaded diphtheria. The Welsh had stockpiled what he thought
the town might need, but he couldn't plan for everything.
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The disease can be fatal if not treated. In time,
bacteria settles in the lungs, where it produces toxins. Those
toxins caused the death of respiratory tissue. As the dead
tissue accumulates, the airway becomes clogged, making breathing difficult. Other
complications involving the kidney and heart may also occur. Essentially,
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diphtheria kills by poisoning and asphyxiation. Children were bounced at risk,
generally killing one in ten affected. Today, we have a
vaccine that has all but eliminated the illness. However, back
in the nineteen twenties, the disease reached epidemic proportions. There
was a cure, though, and anti talks and seram to
(08:01):
create it. Horses were given increased levels of diphtheria toxins,
to which they built up anti toxins. Then laboratories made
seram from the horse's blood. However, Nome didn't have laboratories
or access to many horses, and though doctor Welch had
some anti toxin on hand, it had expired with no
immunity to the disease. Diphtherorius spread through the town like wildfire.
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Without fresh anti toxin, Doctor Welsh estimated a one fatality
rate based on the cases so far. He called an
emergency meeting with Mayor George Maynard. The two quickly set
up a quarantine as a temporary measure to slow down
the spread of the disease while they put out a
call for anti toxin. Fortunately, Anchorage had enough serum. Unfortunately,
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Anchorage was a thousand miles away. Time was running out
for the people in Nome. The disease was highly contagious
and death often occurred just days after infection. Welsh and
Maynard needed to find a way to get the serum
and quickly. Glasgow's governor made it possible to transport the
serum from Anchorage to Nanana by rail. The ice made
(09:08):
delivering the serum the rest of the way by boat impossible.
Planes had open cockpits and water cooled engines at the time,
making the trip by air a suicide mission. The town
survival came down to the sled dogs, but this time
they wouldn't have thirty days or even nine to make
the trip. The call went out asking for help from
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every sled team along the idea rod trail from Nanana
to Rome that have to set up relay teams between
the two points to beat the clock. It wouldn't be easy.
The teams would mostly be running in the dark. Daylight
during Arctic winters is scarce. In addition, the serum had
to be kept from freezing, a near impossible feat considering
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it was January, and even if they managed to keep
the serum stable, it had a shelf life of just
six days, requiring the dogs to make the trip three
days faster than the record run. They needed the best
drivers and the fastest dogs. A ragtag group of natives
and settlers signed up like their dogs. The men were
healthy and fit, and all of them were young, except one,
(10:18):
forty two year old Leonard Seppola. Though he had the experience,
his age put him past the prime for such a
grueling undertaking. His lead dog, Togo, was also aging at twelve.
The journey would likely kill him, but both man and
dog had a vested steak in the matter. Seppola had
a young daughter and a solid commitment to the town.
(10:41):
Togo had an equally strong commitment to Seppola, a devotion
had had since he was a puppy. Seppola had taken
a little longer to commit to such a bond. Togo
had been born the only pup in the litter. His
dark brown coat and piercing blue eyes might have stolen
anyone else's heart, but Togo was small and initially unhealthy,
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and as far as Seppla was concerned, looks didn't get
the job done, and he had little interest in the pup,
so he gave Togo away, but Togo refused to belong
to anyone else. He jumped through a window and, remarkably
for such a young puppy, found his way home. Resigned
to keeping Togo, Seppola put him in a pen when
he took the other dogs out to train. Togo had
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other ideas. He dug under or climbed over every pen,
then raced off to find Seppola and the team, often
causing havoc when he did. Too young to harness. Sepola
did his best to keep Togo from escaping, but nothing worked. Finally,
when Togo was eight months old and had managed to
escape and find the team again, Sepola harnessed him up
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with the rest of the team. Got first day, Togo
ran seventy five miles on break. Sepola continued moving Togo
closer to the front. By the end of the day,
he had become the lead dog. In a short time,
Seppola had the best lead dog had ever owned. Togo stamina, intelligence,
and devotion to Seppola became legendary and known so With
(12:07):
so many lives in the balance, Seppola had to choose
twenty of his best dogs for the journey. He had
a younger dog named Bolto, but felt the dog didn't
have what it takes to make the treacherous journey had
been assigned a Seppla lent Bolto to another musher to
make the best time. Each team was assigned at thirty
miles stretch, all except Seppola and Togo. The two would
(12:28):
have to make an incredible ninety one mile run over
the trail's most hazardous terrain. They made their way to
a cabin near the rendezvous point and waited as the
train pulled into Nanana. The weather worsened, A blinding snowstorm formed,
and temperatures dropped to sixty degrees below zero fahrenheit. While
every driver knew they needed to be fast, they also
(12:51):
knew that if they ran their dogs too fast, their
lungs would frost and the dogs would dive exposure. Winds howled,
and the snow came down hard. Bill Shannon and his
team pulled away from the train station. The Great Mercy
Run had begun. Shannon ended up taking on fifty two
miles of the run in the worst of the weather.
He arrived at the transfer point and suffering from hypothermia,
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his face black with frost bite. Four of his dogs died.
The temperature warmed slightly, though the next driver and team
still encountered gale force winds and blinding snow, and drivers
and dogs persisted handing off the seram to the next team.
The driver who passed the seram to Seppola told him
cases of diphtheria had risen and warned him that a
(13:35):
storm was headed his way. Seppola got his team ready
and set out in temperatures of negative thirty degrees fahrenheit
with a wind chill of negative eighty five. By the
time they stopped for rest at a roadhouse, Togo had
led the team eighty four miles. The dogs were exhausted,
and they settled in for some rest. The winds kicked
up outside, reminding Seppola they couldn't rest for long. M
(14:09):
With just six hours of sleep, they set out again,
the storm raging around them. Seppela had a choice to make.
If he took a short cut, he'd save forty two miles,
but that short cut would take him and the team
across the sound. In the past, other teams had risked
the ice and poor weather, only to find themselves stranded
on the ice floating out to sea, and on a
(14:32):
previous journey, the unthinkable had happened to them. When Seppola
and the team had found themselves stranded on the ice,
he had unharnessed Togo and tossed him onto a larger block,
Hoping Togo understood what he needed him to do. Pulled Togo, pull,
and Togo had the ice Seppola and the team were
stranded on drew close enough to drive the team across. Now,
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Seppola had a decision and take the long way and
save himself and the team, but risked the Sarah expiring
or risk their lives. Seppola looked at the team and
met with Togo's ice blue eyes. They've done it before,
they'd do it again. Togo and the team took off
across the ice, sliding and skittering. They were now in
(15:16):
a race for their lives, though they didn't know it,
the storm had started to break up the ice on
the Norton Sound. By the time Seppla heard the ice
cracking around them, they couldn't turn around. He urged Togo
to keep running, to keep moving the team forward so
they wouldn't panic, and Togo instinctively steered them away from
the danger and led the team to shore. Once they
(15:37):
were safely away from ice and firmly back on land,
they found an inuit iglu, where Seppla fed the team
and slept. The shortcut had saved them an entire day.
They rested a few hours and set out again. Houses
and rest stops dotted the snow drifts along the way.
A telegram had been sent to tell the drivers to
stop at them frequently to rest and get warm, but
(16:00):
Seppola never received the messages. He and Togo pushed on
toward a ridge line across the north summit of what's
now called Anali Mountain. Seppola and Togo had experience on
such trails, which was why they had been selected to
cross the mountain, but they'd never done it in weather
like this. There were no trees to block the wind,
the way up and down was steep, and the ridge
(16:22):
was narrow. If they lost their footing, they'd perish. There
were touch and go moments on their descent when the
team slid down the mountain. Seppola relied on Togo to
keep the team from danger or going too fast. By
the time they made it to the rendezvous point, the
team was exhausted and twelve year old Togo had given
it everything he had left. Seppola handed off the serum
(16:45):
to the next driver, Charlie Olson. On February one, after
his run, Olsen handed off the serum to gunner Casson,
who had put Bolto on his team. Casson and Balto
faced near whiteout conditions. Balto helped keep the team on
course until an eighty mile an hour wind toppled the sled,
throwing Cassin, the dogs and the serum into the snow.
(17:07):
Casson removed his gloves and frantically searched for the fur
wrapped package with his bare hands. He found him right
at the sled and pushed on to the next meeting point,
where the last team would take the serum into town.
Except they weren't there. There's controversy at this point in
the history. Some say Casson wanted to be the one
(17:28):
to bring the serum into Gnome. Others say that with
the clock ticking and the storm raging, he couldn't afford
to wait. Either way, Casson pushed on, making it to
Gnome on February second. A hero's welcome greeted him and
the team. Casson, exhausted and relieved, handed the serum to
doctor Welch. He staggered to the front of the team,
(17:50):
hugged Bolto, and collapsed. Welsh administered the serum to the sick.
No more cases were reported, and the town was saved.
Welsh had enough to treat everyone who needed help, with
just two doses to spare. The drivers and their teams
returned home again to rest and recover. The Great Mercy
Run was over. They had beaten the odds. A hundred
(18:12):
and fifty sled dogs made the run. They traveled six
hundred and seventy four miles in five and a half days,
shattering the old record of nine A few of the
dogs died giving their lives to save human life, and
Togo was not one of them. After a much deserved rest,
he and Seppla returned home. The Great Mercy Run had
(18:41):
captivated the country during those five and a half days.
People everywhere anxiously awaited reports on the dog's journey, and
newspapers splashed updates on the front page. Radio stations gave
them by the hour. Americans were on the edge of
their seats when the New York Times reported that a
major blizzard struck as the dogs approached Nome, and celebrations
(19:01):
erupted when the seram made it and the town was saved.
President Calvin Coolidge presented every musher with the letter of recognition,
and even the Senate took notice, and stopping their work
long enough to honor the men and their dogs who
had braved horrender its conditions to save the lives of
thousands of people. People couldn't get enough of the story,
and though twenty men and a hundred and fifty dogs
(19:22):
had participated, one stood out above all others. Balto, Gunnar
Casson and Balto had been the ones to arrive in
Nome with the serum. A. Seppeler knew the team that
made the trip into town would be the most celebrated.
He didn't care so much for himself, but he did
for Togo. A Balto was a great dog. All the
(19:42):
dogs were, but it had been twelve year old Togo
who had taken on the roughest, most dangerous terrain. A
six year old Bolto ran an incredible fifty three miles
at twice his age. Togo had traveled two hundred and
sixty one miles, over a third of the six hundred
and seventy four our mile run. It had been Togo
that traveled the ridgeline and across the ice, and Seppola's
(20:06):
decision to go across the sound saved an entire day.
Had he chosen the initial path, that Sarah would have expired. Books, movies, magazines,
and papers wanted to hear Balto's story, though Balto symbolized
the race he and Casson towards the States. Balto was
president at the unveiling of his statue in New York
Central Park, but after a while Casson grew homesick, Balto
(20:30):
and the other dogs weren't with him when he finally
returned to Alaska. It's unclear why the poor Balto and
the team were shipped across the country as part of
the vaudeville circuit, until George Kimball, who was organizing a
children's campaign, came across the heroic canine at a side show.
Balto and the other dogs had been chained living in
(20:50):
deplorable conditions, and Kimball rescued the dogs and found them
a permanent home at the Cleveland Zoo. Balto lived the
rest of his life there until he died in nineteen
thirty three, and Togo and Seppola toured for a while
as well. They even went back to sled racing in
Maine and easily bested the local dogs, but Togo was
(21:11):
growing older and Seppola retired him, Agreeing to a breeding
program in Maine. Togo sired many litters, Seppola reached his
dream of the perfect sled dog separate from Siberian huskies.
Togo's line became a separate breed, the Seppola Siberian. Seppela
returned to Alaska, but continued to visit his beloved dog.
(21:33):
Togo passed away a few years later, at the age
of sixteen. He died having lived his retirement and comfort
well cared for and deeply loved. Leonard Seppela died in
nineteen sixty seven at the age of eighty nine. Zeppola
said he had never had a dog with more intelligence, courage, stamina,
or loyalty than Togo, but his story and heroism faded
(21:57):
from history. Decades later, historians uncovered the story and helped
shine a light on Togo as the true hero. In
twenty nineteen, a Sepalss Siberian named Diesel portrayed Togo in
Disney's adaptation of The Seram Run. As it turns out,
Diesel was an easy choice for the studio. He not
only resembled Togo, but he was also his great grandson
(22:20):
fourteen generations back. There's more to this story. Stick around
after this brief sponsor break to hear all about it.
Working dogs are a relatively common sight, either trained as
(22:44):
police dogs or to aid people with disabilities or illnesses.
Dogs truly have become human kind's best friend, and in
September of two thousand one, America became familiar with two
other types of working dogs, search and rescue and SIR
and recovery. After the attack on the Twin Towers on
September eleven, three hundred dogs and their handlers converged on
(23:07):
Ground zero. Search and rescue dogs have been used for decades,
from locating people lost in snowstorms and the wilderness, to
national disasters like Hurricane Katrina and incidents like the Oklahoma
City bombing. Still few Americans knew the scope of what
it meant to be a dog or handler for search
and rescue. But at Ground Zero, people glued to their
(23:29):
televisions had never seen anything like it. After the horror
of watching the building's collapse, people falling from buildings and
runnings so covered through the streets, others ran toward the buildings,
and in the aftermath, rescue workers continued to shift through
the rubble in the hopes of finding human life. Dogs
climbed over concrete, glass and unstable debris to detect life below.
(23:53):
Twenty seven hours after the buildings had collapsed, a rescue
dog found the last survivor days lay there. The search
and rescue teams made way for dogs trained in search
and recovery The search proved difficult for the cadaver dogs,
as it turns out, finding body after body is psychologically
taxing for them too. To combat the dog's depression, handlers
(24:16):
created mock fines so the dogs found some living people.
Denise Corliss was one of those handlers. Corliss, volunteer firefighter
with the Sci Faire Fire Department in Texas, arrived with
two year old Brittany, a Golden Retriever. Corliss had been
training with Brittany since the pup was just eight months old.
(24:37):
The pair had completed female Certification. Nine eleven was Brittany's
first assignment. While Brittany took her job seriously sniffing through
and climbing over rubble for twelve hours a day for
nearly two solid weeks, she had a softer side too.
Of finding so many bodies took its toll on the
rescue workers, and Brittany also discouraged sought out firefighters who
(25:01):
just needed a hug and a wet nose. Soon, rescue
workers sought out Brittany for one of her famous golden
smiles and a quick hug. The firefighters began to share
stories with Corless in the debris were missing. Friends and
co workers of Brittany not only served as a recovery dog,
but she had also become a therapy dog. After not eleven,
(25:24):
Corless and Brittany went on to other assignments. Hurricanes Rita,
Ivan and Katrina of Brittany did precisely what she had
been trained to do, despite the dangers. Once Brittany found
herself standing precariously on a dangling staircase, injury and death
are real possibilities for the dogs. A Corless admitted to
a reporter that she held her breadth on many occasions
(25:46):
while Brittany worked. Life as a search and rescue or
search and recovery dog is hard and demanded. Brittany retired
at age nine, though she remained active. She visited the
scy Fair Firehouse regularly, where she continued to bring her
golden smile and warm to the firefighters. She made television appearances,
and she enjoyed going to elementary schools, where she listened
(26:09):
patiently and without judgment as children practiced their reading skills
with her. But, as anyone with the dog knows all
too well, their lives are too short. And when Brittany's
kidneys failed and nothing more could be done. Corlis honored
her beloved dog with dignity, choosing to be with her
when the veterinarian euthanized her. Oh. When word got out
(26:30):
about nine eleven's last surviving search and recovery dog, firefighters
and first responders lined up outside the clinic, They stood
at attention and saluted Brittany as Corlis led her inside.
Tired and in pain, Brittany managed to wag her tail.
Then they waited. When Corliss reappeared with Brittany's body draped
(26:51):
with an American flag, they saluted her one final time.
Heroic dogs are indeed special, but dog love is also
know that nineteenth century humorist Josh Billings had it right
when he said, a dog is the only thing on
earth that loves you more than he loves himself. American
(27:16):
Shadows is hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. This episode was written
by Michelle Muto, researched by Ali Steed, and produced by
Miranda Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive producers Aaron Mankey,
Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn more about the show,
visit Grim and Mild dot com. From more podcasts from
iHeart Radio. Visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or
(27:39):
wherever you get your podcasts.
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