Most of the time, however, carrier pigeons were used to benefit an entire country, not just one individual. The United States, England, France, Germany, and Italy, in both World War I and World War , used carrier pigeons. Not only were the birds often the fastest, most reliable way to send messages, they could also be used to reach soldiers far behind enemy lines, where radios and field telephone lines were useless. Since they could easily be released from airplanes or ships, every branch of the armed services used the birds. In World War Ⅱ, more than 3,000 soldiers and 150 officers were needed to care for and train the tens of thousands of birds in the US Pigeon Service.
Carrying messages could be a dangerous job. Some pigeons performed with such bravery that they became famous and were even awarded medals, such as England's Dicken Medal of Gallantry. In a few cases, pigeons even became prisoners of war. In 1918 American forces captured a pigeon named The Kaiser, which had been trained to fly special missions for Germany during battle. He was taken to America. Where he lived to the age of 32.
The most famous pigeon of all may have been Cher Ami. Stationed in France during World War I. he carried twelve important messages for American forces. On his last mission, though wounded, he carried a message that saved the lives of 194 American soldiers. For his extraordinary service, he was awarded the French” Croix de guerre”.
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