Unpedigreed but unbowed: The unbelievable true story of Sergeant Stubby, America’s original dog of war

On July 6, 1921, a curious gathering materialized at the State, War, and Navy Building on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington. The occasion was a ceremony conformation veterans of the 102nd foot of the yank military Forces’ twenty sixth “Yankee” Division, UN agency had seen action in France throughout the nice War. The hall was packed with dozens of members of the 102nd—field clerks, squaddies, generals—but one soldier above all commanded the spotlight. the eye perceived to hassle him; the the big apple Times reported that the soldier was “a trifle gun back, and showed some symptoms of nervous excitement.” once photographers snapped his image, he flinched. The ceremony was presided over by information. John J. Pershing, commander of the yank forces in Europe throughout the war. Black Jack Pershing created a brief speech, noting the soldier’s “heroism of highest caliber” and “bravery vulnerable.” the overall solemnly upraised associate carved solid palm from its case and fastened it to the hero’s uniform. In response, the days reported , the solider “licked his chops and wagged his diminutive tail.” Sergeant short, a brief patterned bull hunting dog mongrel, was formally a adorned hero of warfare I. The award wasn't a proper U.S. military commendation, however it symbolically confirmed short, who’d conjointly attained one wound stripe and 3 service stripes, because the greatest war dog within the nation’s history. in line with the Smithsonian National repository of yankee History, he was the primary dog ever given rank within the U.S. Army. His glory was even hailed in France, that conjointly given him with a ribbon. Millions of Americans detected tales of Stubby’s spirit. He had reportedly comfortable wounded warriors on bullet-strafed battlefields. it had been aforesaid he may scent out gas, barking warnings to doughboys within the trenches. He even captured a German soldier. These exploits created the dog nothing but a star. He met 3 sitting presidents, traveled the state to veterans’ commemorations, and performed in music hall shows, earning $62.50 for 3 days of theatrical appearances, over doubly the weekly earnings of the common yank. For nearly a decade when the war till his death in 1926, short was the foremost noted animal within the u. s.. “Stubby’s history overseas,” a metropolis, Connecticut, newspaper wrote in 1922, “is the story of virtually any average doughboy.” however in fact short wasn't a doughboy, and his fame was something however average. Despite his postwar high status, short has pale from memory within the century since the war commenced. however his story is price revisiting, and not even as a cute, curious footnote. Stubby’s tale offers a glimpse of the yank Army because it ready to fight its initial fashionable war—and later, of a contusioned nation because it commemorated a triumph obtained at incredible human prices.