Dogface refers to a U.S. Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 foot soldier serving in the infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

, especially in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

History and usage

The origin of the term is difficult to ascertain. According to the recollections of veteran Phillip Leveque:

Perhaps I should explain the derivation of the term "dogface". He lived in "pup tents" and foxholes. We were treated like dogs in training. We had dog tag

Dog tag

A pet ID tag, or pet tag is a small flat tag worn on pets' collars or harnesses.Humane societies and rescue organizations recommend that dogs and cats wear these tags, which contain information to enable someone encountering a stray animal to contact the owner.Some people object to pet id tags...

s for identification. The basic story is that wounded soldiers in the Civil War had tags tied to them with string indicating the nature of their wounds. The tags were like those put on a pet dog or horse, but I can't imagine anybody living in a horse tent or being called a horseface. Correctly speaking, only Infantrymen are called dogfaces. Much of the time we were filthy, cold and wet as a duck-hunting dog and we were ordered around sternly and loudly like a half-trained dog.

The term was used in media such as "Up Front" by combat cartoonist Bill Mauldin

Bill Mauldin

William Henry "Bill" Mauldin was a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist from the United States...

, who may have heard the term while serving with General Lucian K. Truscott's 3rd Infantry Division in Italy.

The term gained a high profile in the USA when it was used in the 1955 Hollywood film, To Hell and Back

To Hell and Back (film)

To Hell and Back is a CinemaScope war film released in 1955. It was directed by Jesse Hibbs and starred Audie Murphy as himself and Kyle Sanville. It is based on the 1949 autobiography of the same name and is an account of Murphy's World War II experiences as a soldier in the U.S. Army...

, based on the best-selling autobiography of Audie Murphy

Audie Murphy

Audie Leon Murphy was a highly decorated and famous soldier. Through LIFE magazine's July 16, 1945 issue , he became one the most famous soldiers of World War II and widely regarded as the most decorated American soldier of the war...

, the most decorated U.S. soldier of World War II, and starring Murphy in the lead role. The film included a song, The Dogface Soldier, originally written in 1942 by two U.S. Army infantry soldiers; it was adopted as the song of the 3rd Infantry Division, and was widely played and sung during the war. The song eventually sold 300,000 copies.

The song is still sung every morning after reveille

Reveille

"Reveille" is a bugle call, trumpet call or pipes call most often associated with the military or summer camp; it is chiefly used to wake military personnel at sunrise...

 by the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division while in garrison at Ft. Stewart, Ga. (Division Headquarters), Ft. Benning, Ga. (3rd Brigade of the 3ID), and Hunter Army Airfield, Ga. (Supporting 3ID Units).