Stubby, the most decorated war dog in US history.

[Norm357]

Just a very cool story about a mutt who became famous.

"Sgt.STUBBY"




America's first war dog, Stubby, served 18 months 'over there' and participated in seventeen battles on the Western Front. He saved his regiment from surprise mustard gas attacks, located and comforted the wounded, and even once caught a German spy by the seat of his pants. Back home his exploits were front page news of every major newspaper.

Stubby was a bull terrier - broadly speaking, very broadly! No one ever discovered where he hailed from originaly. One day he just appeared, when a bunch of soldiers were training at Yale Field in New Haven, Ct; he trotted in and out among the ranks as they drilled, stopping to make a friend here and a friend there, until pretty soon he was on chummy terms with the whole bunch.

One soldier though, in particular, developed a fonest for the dog, a Corporal Robert Conroy, who when it became time for the outfit to ship out, hid Stubby on board the troop ship.

So stowaway Stubby sailed for France, after that Cpl. Conroy became his accepted master, even though he was still on chummy terms with every one else in the outfit; and in the same spirit of camarderie that had marked his initial overtures at Yale.

It was at Chemin des Dames that Stubby saw his first action, and it was there that the boys discovered he was a war dog par excellence. The boom of artillery fire didn't faze him in least, and he soon learned to follow the men's example of ducking when the big ones started falling close. Naturally he didn't know why he was ducking, but it became a great game to see who could hit the dugout first. After a few days, Stubby won every time. He could hear the whine of shells long before the men. It got so they'd watch him!

Then one night Stubby made doggy history. It was an unusally quiet night in the trenches. Some of the boys were catching cat naps in muddy dugouts, and Stubby was stretched out beside Conroy. Suddenly his big blunt head snapped up and his ears pricked alert. The movement woke Conroy, who looked at the dog sleepily just in time to see him sniff the air tentatively, utter a low growl, then spring to his feet, and go bounding from the dugout, around a corner out of sight.

Afew seconds later there was a sharp cry of pain and then the sound of a great scuffle outside. Conroy jumped from his bed, grabbed his rifle and went tearing out towards the direction of the noise.

A ludicrous sight met his eyes. Single-pawed, in a vigorous offensive from the rear, Stubby had captured a German spy, who'd been prowling through the trenches. The man was whirling desperately in an effort to shake off the snarling bundle of canine tooth and muscle that had attached itself to his differential. But Stubby was there to stay.

It took only afew moments to capture the Hun and disarm him, but it required considerably more time to convince Stubby that his mission had been successfully carried out and that he should now release the beautiful hold he had on that nice, soft German bottom.

By the end of the war, Stubby was known not only to every regiment, division, and army, but to the whole AEF. Honors by the bale were heaped on his muscled shoulders. At Mandres en Bassigny he was introduced to President Woodrow Wilson, who "shook hands" with him. Medal and emblemed jackets were bestowed upon him for each deed of valor, plus a wound stripe for his grenade splinter. Not to be left out, the Marines even made him an honorary sergeant.

After the Armistice was signed, Stubby returned home with Conroy and his popularity seemed to grow even more. He became a nationally acclaimed hero, and eventually was received by presidents Harding and Coolidge. Even General John "Black Jack" Pershing, who commanded the American Expeditionary Forces during the war, presented Stubby with a gold medal made by the Humane Society and declared him to be a "hero of the highest caliber."

Stubby toured the country by invitation and probably led more parades than any other dog in American history; he was also promoted to honorary sergeant by the Legion, becoming the highest ranking dog to ever serve in the Army.

He was even made an honorary member of the American Red Cross, the American Legion and the YMCA, which issued him a lifetime membership card good for "three bones a day and a place to sleep."




Stubby At Georgetown!

Afterwards, Stubby became Georgetown University's mascot. In 1921, Stubby's owner, Robert Conroy was headed to Georgetown for law school and took the dog along. According to a 1983 account in Georgetown Magazine, Stubby "served several terms as mascot to the football team." Between the halves, Stubby would nudge a football around the field, much to the delight of the crowd.

Old age finally caught up with the small warrior on April 4th, 1926, as he took ill and died in Conroy's arms.

It's said, that Stubby and afew of his friends were instrumental in inspiring the creation of the United States 'K-9 Corps' just in time for World War ll.

[Firestorm]

Beautiful. Simply beautiful. They should make a movie about Stubby if they haven't already.

[oscarmitre]

Great story Norm, thanks.

[cntryboy0531]

Good article norm.

[BP348]

Good one dude!!

[Norm357]

Found a better written story at www.thehoya.com

From Mascot to Military, Stubby Left Pawprints on Hilltop and Beyond

By Derek Richmond
Hoya Staff Writer

Georgetown University Archives /The Hoya
Despite serving as Georgetown’s mascot from 1921 to 1926, Stubby also became the poster canine for dogs and animals serving alongside soldiers in combat, and was a precursor of the military K-9 Corp.

When Jack, only a few weeks old, arrived on the Hilltop this summer, his small paws already had large prints to follow. While he may never understand the tradition which he now embodies, most Georgetown students are equally as unaware of the history of Georgetown’s dogs.

As it turns out, Jack is just the latest installment in a long line of official Georgetown mascots that reaches back to the beginning of the 20th century, though the tradition of dogs at Georgetown dates back to the days of the Hilltoppers of the last century.

Jack is a purebred English Bulldog, and the legacy of this breed has been on campus since 1962. Before the English Bulldog was adopted as the official breed of the university’s mascots, Georgetown used several different breeds, including several terriers and a Great Dane. As a side note, Georgetown’s mascot was listed as “a small boy” in the 1911 yearbook.

One of Georgetown’s earliest mascots, Stubby, predates the newest Jack the Bulldog by more than 80 years. Stubby was a mixed-breed mongrel, at least part Boston terrier, whose story began in 1916 at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Conn.

The Connecticut National Guard was training in the stadium while awaiting assignment to the front lines of World War I. Stubby wandered out onto the field and was quickly adopted by the men training for war. When the 102nd Infantry Regiment shipped out to Europe, the men smuggled Stubby with them.

During the Great War, Stubby served the regiment as both mascot and fellow soldier. In his 18 months on the front lines, Stubby located wounded soldiers and saved his regiment from a mustard gas attack by waking the troops in the middle of the night. He carried messages under fire. He even caught a German spy by sinking his teeth into the agent’s rear.

Stubby was wounded by shrapnel but recovered to join his regiment to fight at Chateau Thierry and the Marne. His efforts in the war made Stubby a popular hero, especially among French women, who fashioned a blanket of the flags of all the Allied Nations for the terrier. With each battle, Stubby’s blanket garnered more medals and honors, both French and American, while back home Stubby’s bravery earned him front-page headlines.

When Stubby returned to the United States after 17 hard-fought battles in over a year and a half of service, President Woodrow Wilson invited him to the White House where General John Pershing awarded the terrier a gold medal of valor. In later years, he was also received at the White House by Presidents Coolidge and Harding. The Connecticut military department called Stubby “the most famous and decorated war dog in U.S. history.” Stubby’s loyalty and bravery was so famous that almost 20 years later it provided the impetus for creating the K-9 corps during World War II.

In 1921, Stubby again returned to the nation’s capital, this time to Georgetown, where his owner, J. Robert Conroy, was attending law school.

Already a renowned war hero, Stubby quickly became a favorite of Georgetown sports fans in the early 1920s. Stubby would push the ball around the field with his nose during the halftime break at Georgetown football games. This trick became a standard part of the repertoire for Georgetown mascots throughout the ’20s and ’30s.

Stubby died in 1926. He was stuffed, and his remains — including his medal-adorned blanket — were displayed for 30 years at the National Red Cross Museum. In 1956, the dog’s body was presented to the Smithsonian. After 40 years in mothballs, the venerated war hero was loaned to the State of Connecticut, which recently featured the Georgetown mascot at a statewide dog show.

“If there is any place on the Other Side for dogs that are true, and loyal, and heroic,” wrote THE HOYA upon Stubby’s death in 1926, “Stubby is no doubt there, gamboling after gray-clad warriors with all his former gusto.”

[StationM]

http://www.war-dogs.com/

Too many of our faithful friends were forgotten, or left behind.

[deputywave]

Thanks for sharing that.

[Aussie George]

I remember seeing a show a while back about war dogs.

Some of the stories were very touching.

One was about a dog that was on patrol, and on a break. He was let off for a quick run and a short time later was seen playing with a stick. He was throwing it around and chasing it. A short time later the handler saw that the stick was a VC grenade. The dog had found a weapons cache but he knew that he was "off duty" so he was in play mode. He was having a great time. The handler promptly put his harness back on and he went into work mode and took the soldiers to a tunnel entrance that the platoon was sitting virtually on top of (unnoticed). Needless to say it was a weapons cache that was taken out of enemy hands.

Another story was of a dog on a patrol boat. He was sleeping in amongst the men's equipment. All of a suddent the dog woke up, grabbed one of the soldiers helmets, and for no explainable reason, threw the helmet overboard before quickly curling back up and going to sleep. The soldiers just looked at each other and laughed. The handler never could explain what the dog was doing!

It was a great documentary.