G.I. Joe (March 24, 1943 – June 3, 1961) was a

pigeon Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

noted for his service in the

United States Army Pigeon Service The United States Army Pigeon Service ( a.k.a. Signal Pigeon Corps) was a unit of the United States Army during World War I and World War II. Their assignment was the training and usage of homing pigeons for communication and reconnaissance pur ...

. The bird is part of the homing pigeons used during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

for communication and

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

purposes. G.I. Joe had the name tag, Pigeon USA43SC6390. He was hatched in March 1943, in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

, North Africa and underwent a training for two-way homing pigeons perfected at

Fort Monmouth Fort Monmouth is a former installation of the Department of the Army in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The post is surrounded by the communities of Eatontown, Tinton Falls and Oceanport, New Jersey, and is located about from the Atlantic Ocean. Th ...

, in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. During the Italian Campaign of World War II, G.I. Joe saved the lives of the inhabitants of the village of Calvi Vecchia,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, and of the

British troops The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkhas ...

56th (London) Infantry Division The 56th (London) Infantry Division was a Territorial Army infantry division of the British Army, which served under several different titles and designations. The division served in the trenches of the Western Front during the First World War. ...

occupying it. Air support had been previously requested against German positions at Calvi Vecchia on 18 October 1943. However, the 169th (London) Infantry Brigade attacked and won back the village from the Germans ahead of schedule but they were unable to transmit a message via radio to call off the planned American air raid. G.I. Joe was dispatched as a last resort to carry the message and arrived in the air base just in time to avoid the Allied air force from bombing their own men. G.I. Joe flew this 20-mile distance in an impressive 20 minutes, just as the planes were preparing to take off for the target. Over 100 men were saved. On 4 November 1946, G.I. Joe was presented the

Dickin Medal The PDSA Dickin Medal was instituted in 1943 in the United Kingdom by Maria Dickin to honour the work of animals in World War II. It is a bronze medallion, bearing the words "For Gallantry" and "We Also Serve" within a laurel wreath, carried o ...

for gallantry by Major-General

Charles Keightley General Sir Charles Frederic Keightley, (24 June 1901 – 17 June 1974) was a senior British Army officer who served during and following the Second World War. After serving with distinction during the Second World War – becoming, in 1944, th ...

at the Tower of London. The citation credits him with "the most outstanding flight made by a United States Army homing pigeon in World War II"."War Pigeon's Medal." Times ondon, England5 Nov. 1946: 7. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 6 July 2013. The award is also known as the equivalent of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

or the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

for animals. G.I. Joe was the 29th and the first non-British recipient of the medal. In 2019 he was also posthumously awarded the

Animals in War & Peace Medal of Bravery The Animals in War & Peace Medal of Bravery was instituted in 2019 in the United States by Robin Hutton and Mari Lou Livingood to honor the work of American animals in war and peace. The medal was created to be the American equivalent of the Dick ...

. After World War II, he was housed at the U.S. Army's Churchill Loft at Fort Monmouth, in New Jersey along with 24 other heroic pigeons. He died at the Detroit Zoological Gardens at the age of eighteen, and was mounted and displayed at the U.S. Army Communications Electronics Museum at

References

{{War pigeons Individual domesticated pigeons Recipients of the Dickin Medal 1943 animal births 1961 animal deaths

See also

References