January 24, 2012

Sgt Stubby

I'm pretty sure I came across Sgt Stubby through a Tweet by

Lindsay Ellis.


The story of this rescued pooch is simply awesome.  In brief: man "adopts" a dog while going through field training prior to going to war in France.  Smuggles dog onto troop transport where everybody falls in love with it.  Dog learns some awesome trick like saluting, alerting troops to poisonous gas attacks, and subduing enemy spies.  Dog earns a bunch of awards and medals, formally gets a rank, and is smuggled back to the US to become a national hero and then the Georgetown mascot.

Decorated by General Pershing
The guy who adopted Sgt Stubby had him for the rest of the dog's life.  Even though he was "adopted" by the owner's military unit, Sgt Stubby's enlistment lasted as long as his master, one J. Robert Conroy. Sgt Stubby was part of 17 battles and wounded twice.

Sgt Stubby died in 1926 and was probably the most famous "soldier" of World War I.  His name was known by every schoolchild in the country.  When he passed away his obituary was three columns wide in the New York Times.  His body was preserved and donated to the Smithsonian.


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