¶ … war hero? What are the personal qualities that transcend an ordinary individual into someone who does something that other people find particularly brave or extraordinary?
In the movies and novels these individuals are pictured as charismatic rebels who overcome all the odds to excel but researchers who have actually studied real life heroes have found the heroes are not all cut from the same cloth. They are not all charismatic macho types. They have found that quiet, reserved types can also fit the mold and become heroes. One of the researchers, Brian Wansink of Cornell University, said of heroes, "We often think of the gung-ho, John Wayne 'Sands of Iwo Jima' kind of hero driven to combat, but there's a whole lot these heroes that are much more along the lines of that Captain Miller character Tom Hanks played in 'Saving Private Ryan' -- the reluctant high school English teacher (Ittersum)."
The study cited above used a methodology that included the interviewing several hundred veterans of the Second World War. All of these veterans had one thing in common: they were all men who had served in the military during the war. The study's findings were interesting and provide valuable insights into what goes into making a hero but the question must be asked whether the study was complete and whether from time to time there are unique, non-human factors that can also create a hero. Take, for example, the story of a World War I hero that does not fit into the various molds suggested by the Cornell University study. This hero, different than all the rest, is Sergeant Stubby, a Staffordshire Terrier, owned by Private J. Robert Conroy who was the only dog ever promoted to sergeant (Lemish).
Private Conroy had already enlisted in the service and busy training to be sent overseas when he came across a young brindled puppy. Conroy took an immediate liking to the young pup and quickly took under his care. Naming him "Stubby" Conroy began taking Stubby with him to his training sessions where the young dog was eventually adopted by Conroy's unit, the 102nd Infantry, 26th Yankee Division, as their mascot. As Conroy's battle training continued so did the training of Stubby. Displaying a remarkable ability to be trained, Stubby soon learned the unit's various bugle calls, the drills, and even adapted a modified form of salute in which he placed his right paw on his right eyebrow. Despite regulations banning the presence of dogs on the base, Conroy's commanding officer made an exception for Stubby and allowed him to remain.
Conroy's deployment to Europe presented him with a serious problem. Not having anyone to leave Stubby with Conroy made the decision to smuggle Stubby on the convoy ship. Hiding Stubby in a coal bin until the ship was well on its way toward France Stubby once again charmed the soldiers and sailors aboard ship. One soldier actually designed and constructed a set of dog tags for Stubby. On arrival in France Conroy was again faced with a problem: what to do with Stubby now that he was being assigned to a battle unit. Conroy was again successful in convincing his commander to allow Stubby to stay on base and, in fact, was even able to procure special orders that allowed Stubby to made a special member of the 102nd Infantry unit and to accompany Conroy to the front lines with his battle unit.
Stubby quickly adapted to the sounds and fury of the front lines but was to soon suffer his first battle injury when he was exposed to gas. After recovering in a field hospital Stubby returned to the front lines where, having developed sensitivity to gas, he was used to detect gas and was even credited with saving his unit when they came under a gas attack early in the morning when they were asleep. Stubby, recognizing the gas ran through the trenches occupied by his unit awakening everyone. Another unique talent possessed...
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