A local author has penned two books about military personnel that many don’t often think - or even know - about.

They were the ones with four legs or feathers - the ones that served as everything from messengers to mascots to therapy animals.

They were the dogs, birds - and even the camels - that aided Army personnel from the United States and other nations.

Sue Bulanda tells their stories in “Military Dogs of World War II,” and “Soldiers in Fur and Feathers: The Animals That Served in World War I - Allied Forces.”

“I include the canine mascots in both of my books because they played an important role as therapy dogs,” said Bulanda of Jim Thorpe. “In some cases, the mascots saved many lives even though they were not specially trained. An example is the story of a 4-pound Yorkshire terrier named Smoky who is credited with saving about 250 soldiers. I included his story in my book.”

Bulanda published the illustrated “Military Dogs of World War II” in April.

In it, she writes about the dogs who stood by soldiers’ sides, delivered messages when other ways of communication failed, and brought supplies when no one else could get through.

“All armies had them, the Germans, Japanese, British, Russia and the United States. Civil Defense dogs in England searched for the victims of bombings, Coast Guard dogs watched the shores for enemies, some dogs guarded storehouses and equipment, some were taken prisoner and lived in POW camps, some were mascots, but all were loved,” according to a book synopsis.

She writes, too, about the programs that were established to care for the animals and send them home after combat.

Bulanda published “Soldiers in Fur and Feathers” about a decade ago. It includes accounts of the animals that served with the Allied Forces, from the pigeons who flew messages to headquarters, and the donkeys, camels and dogs who provided lifesaving supports.

Writing the books was a natural fit for Bulanda, who dedicated decades to working with animals.

“Growing up I always had a close relationship with my pets both dogs and cats. It was my life ambition to be a dog trainer and I succeeded to become a certified animal behavior consultant,” she said. “My training and experience in this field gave me a deeper understanding of the training and behavior of the dogs who served.”

Early in her career, she wanted to do “real work” with her dogs and tried different things, but none of the sports satisfied her. For example, she taught a few dogs to hunt for birds in the field, but she never shot any - it was the hunt that she liked, she said. She also had a team of Siberian Huskies that she raced, and she showed some of her dogs in conformation and obedience competitions.

But it would take some time for her to discover career satisfaction.

“I finally found what I was looking for in canine search and rescue and my husband and I ran a unit for over 20 years,” she said.

As she researched training techniques, she realized that many of the methods used to train military dogs for the first and second World Wars were the foundation for search and rescue training.

“I also love history and true stories and realized that students today are not being taught a great deal about history and that when our veterans die, their history is often lost,” Bulanda said.

By this point, Bulanda had already written a number of books about dogs and training. She started to delve into what happened to the pets of Jewish families during World War II. She shared what she learned in her book, “Faithful Friends.”

“When I was researching my book ‘Faithful Friends,’ I found that while there is a lot about the Holocaust, no one recorded the fate of the pets of the Holocaust victims. ‘Faithful Friends’ is the only book that I know of that tells their story,” she said.

As she interviewed people for “Faithful Friends,” she learned more and more about the military dogs and soldiers from the wars.

“While there are a number of books about the dogs that served in Vietnam and later wars, there were not many about World War I and World War II,” she said.

And so, with material she purchased from a war dog museum that had folded, Bulanda began writing.

“While my latest book, Military Dogs of World War II is about the dogs that served, there were many other types of animals that were involved in WWII,” she said. “I hope to write another book about those animals in the near future.”

Bulanda dedicated “Military Dogs of World War II” to family members who served from World War I to Iraq.

She will sign copies of her books at the Veterans Day-themed breakfast beginning at 8 a.m. Sunday from the Penn Forest Fire Co #1, Route 903. The event will feature memorabilia from World War II through Desert Storm. Bulanda will donating part of her book sales to the fire department.

Her books are available from her website, https://sbulanda.com/, Amazon.com, and other online retailers.