It is a tale of feathered fearlessness. In October 1918, American infantrymen were trapped behind enemy lines in the forest of Argonne in north-eastern France. They found themselves in the terrifying position of being shelled by their own artillery.
Though cut off from their flanking divisions, they managed to communicate by sending messages via pigeon post. Seven homing pigeons were sent with messages attached. The last bird, named Cher Ami, carried an urgent message giving the soldiers’ position and pleading for the incoming friendly fire to stop.
The bird was taken to America after the war, and its body has been displayed for the past century at the Smithsonian museum. Its successful mission has been celebrated ever since in military lore and popular culture. And one mystery of its protagonist’s adventure has now been settled by DNA analysis. No one knew for certain Cher Ami’s sex, but scientists have now concluded definitively that it was a male pigeon, not a female.
Why does it matter? Because heroic figures deserve to be known and celebrated, and this finding adds information about the preeminent pigeon of the modern era.
Cher Ami bears the posthumous reputation of having arrived at its loft with its message tube hanging from its shattered right leg and with a hole in its chest. Its wounds were presumably sustained from enemy fire, yet it persevered in its mission, and the surviving soldiers were rescued shortly afterward.
 |
| Monuments at the Lost Battalion Site |
Pigeon corps are no longer found in modern soldiering, but for a period between the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 and the Second World War this ancient military tradition was revived.
For our gallant U.S. allies, it worked. It is no objection that Cher Ami didn’t, and couldn’t, conceive of the concept of heroism. It did its duty, and the known facts of its life are now expanded.
Published 26 July 2021
No comments:
Post a Comment