The Pigeon Who Saved 194 Soldiers

The Pigeon Who Saved 194 Soldiers Hundreds of soldiers were trapped. And their last hope was a tiny pigeon. This really happened, in 1918, in a forest in France, during World War One. An American battalion was surrounded. No food, no water, and no way to call for help. Then it got worse. Their own army started shelling them by mistake. Major Whittlesey wrote one message, put it on his last pigeon, and let her go. Her name was Cher Ami. Enemy soldiers saw her, and fired. She was hit. She fell. And then, somehow, she flew up again. Wounded, she flew forty kilometers in about twenty-five minutes, and landed at the base. The shelling stopped. One hundred ninety-four men walked out alive. Cher Ami got a medal, and a tiny wooden leg. Now you know. Hundreds of soldiers were trapped. And their last hope was a tiny pigeon.