Cheyenne record. (Cheyenne Wells, Cheyenne County, Colo.) 1913-19??, 1920-04-29
BIRDS WON HONOR
Pigeons Certainly Ibid Their
Bit" in the Great War.
Achievements Acknowledged to 30
Worthy Of Mention In Reeords-
Thousands Of Lives Saved BY
Messages They Carried.

Messages They Carried.
Membership in the A. P. s. is a
nilitary honor no mere man may
achieve.
The A. P. s. stands for the American
pigeon service Of the United States
army.
When the history Of the greatest OF
al wars is written. these American
birds will have their names In the
annals.
It will be told how the Huns were
organized into shotgun squads to kill
the winged messengers. but how 81
per cent Of them outdistanced the bull
let's and "homed" with messages that
enabled American artillery to locate
and silence the enemy guns, to destroy
trains Of the foes ammunition and to
save thousands Of American lives by
re-enforcements and timely rescues.
"Heavier-than-air" planes were not
the only ones who sailed above the
enemy's heads. The army signal corps
had 10000 pigeons overseas and 10000
IN America to be sent II they were
needed. Birds carried 4O8 messages
of incalculable Importance. and at
lines when all other means Of COM
munication were unavailable.
1.-THE Mocker." with his eye destroyed
BY a piece of shrapnel and his head q
welter Of clotted blood. homed In
splendid time on the morning Of Sep
tember IL, a few minutes after Z
o'clock. in a thick fog and heavy rain.
Never faltering. he bore tidings Of
particularly important objective
reached and gave the location Of sev-
eral Of the enemy's heavy batteries
which were doing terrible execution on
the advancing American troops.
With the information American ar
tillerymen were able to silence the
enemy's guns within 20 minutes. The
Mocker's wounds were dressed. he re-
covered and is now in the loft In Po-
tomac park.
No less valiant Is the record of
president Wilson," a huge blue bird
Of wonderful vitality and rapidity Of
flight. So gallant was his work dur
Ing the operations Of the tanks on the
st. Mihiel front that he received the
commendation Of the signal officer of
the first corps. He was then trans
ferred to the Meuse-Argonne sector.
On the morning Of November 5.
through heavy rain and fog, and with
a leg shot off, the big blue arrived at
his loft with an important message.
This was his second flight on this
front and he made over 20 kilometers
(12h miles) in q minutes. president
Wilson" also recovered and is now
In the Hall of Honor of the American
pigeon service.
Perhaps the most heroic bird that
died on the American front was "Cher
Ami" He carried tremendously i'm
portant message from Grand Pre-, on
the Argonne. over 25 miles of hills and
dales. to his loft In Rampont.
He shot up from behind the Ameri-
can breastworks like a rocket. His
pigeoneer saw him falter and futter
In the air a moment, recover, poise in
mid-alr for a second and then, like
flash Of light, shoot away with his
head pointing homeward.
At Rampont straight out Of the sky
like a plummet he dropped. striking
his loft breast first. Sergt. Kockler.
his trainer. found the message tube
was hanging from the ligaments Of his
leg. and he had hole in his breast.
"Cher Ami" died from his wounds and
his body Is mounted in the Smithsonian
institute.
Perhaps the busiest bird on the
American front was Spike" "Spike"
Is the color Of the sky, flies like
creased lightning and eluded the Boche
bullets. He delivered SO important
messages. never made mistake and
didn't get a scratch. He. too. is back
in Washington.
No. 67552 has no name yet. As far
as Is known. he was the only German
bird captured alive. He was taken by
the Americans in the st. Mihiel drive
and is now associating with the Amer
lean pigeons in Potomac park.