Aus Wikipedia. Nicht dargestellt. Auszug: Cher Ami (French for „dear friend“, in the masculine) was a registered Black Check Cock homing pigeon which had been donated by the pigeon fanciers of Britain for use by the U.S. Army Signal Corps in France during World War I and had been trained by American pigeoneers. He helped save the Lost Battalion of the 77th Division in the battle of the Argonne, October 1918. On October 3, 1918, Charles Whittlesey and more than 500 men were trapped in a small depression on the side of the hill behind enemy lines without food or ammunition. They were also beginning to receive friendly fire from allied troops who did not know their location. Surrounded by the Germans, many were killed and wounded in the first day and by the second day, only a little more than 200 men were still alive. Whittlesey dispatched messages by pigeon. The pigeon carrying the first message („Many wounded. We cannot evacuate.“) was shot down. A second bird was sent with the message, „Men are suffering. Can support be sent?“ That pigeon also was shot down. Only one homing pigeon was left: ‚Cher Ami‘. He was dispatched with a note in a canister on his left leg, We are along the road parallel to 276.4. Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us. For heaven’s sake, stop it! As Cher Ami tried to fly back home, the Germans saw him rising out of the brush and opened fire and for several minutes, bullets zipped through the air all around him. The men of the Lost Battalion saw Cher Ami tragically shot down, but miraculously, he was airborne again soon. He managed to arrive back at his loft at division headquarters 25 miles to the rear in just 25 minutes, helping to save the lives of the 194 survivors. In this last mission, Cher Ami had delivered the message despite having been shot through the breast, blinded in one eye, covered in blood, and with a leg hanging only by a tendon. Cher Ami had become the hero of the 77th …http://booksllc.net/?l=de