10/14/2026
🟫 On October 4, 1918, in the Argonne Forest of France, Major Charles Whittlesey and the Lost Battalion were surrounded. More than 500 men had been cut off for days and were down to fewer than 200 survivors, under German fire and accidentally shelled by their own artillery. Two homing pigeons had already been sent out and shot down.
Their last hope was a small pigeon named Cher Ami, a veteran of eleven missions. He launched into heavy r***e fire carrying a desperate note: "We are along the road parallel to 276.4. Our own artillery is dropping directly on us. For heaven's sake, stop it." Despite being badly hit, he covered 25 miles in just 25 minutes to reach division headquarters.
The message stopped the barrage immediately and rescue was launched. Cher Ami's flight saved 194 men. He was fitted with a small wooden leg, honored by General Pershing with the French Croix de Guerre, and remembered as one of the bravest messengers of World War I.