Sergeant Stubby
The US Army 102nd Infantry Regiment was in training on the grounds of Yale University in New Haven Connecticut in preparation for deployment to Europe when some of the men noticed a brindle puppy of uncertain breed wandering the area. Corporal Robert Conroy took the dog in and smuggled it onto the troop ship which took the regiment to France. Sometime during training or on the voyage to France the pup was taught to salute the commanding officer, a gesture which convinced him to allow the dog to stay with the unit when it was sent to the front.
Stubby was at the front line in the trenches for eighteen months, with a couple of respites to the rear echelon to recover from wounds sustained from shrapnel from German grenades. Stubby was also injured by a mustard gas attack, from which he learned to warn the men of his regiment when a gas attack was imminent, able to hear the shells containing gas, which made an unusual whining sound, before the soldiers. Stubby also demonstrated the ability to locate wounded men stranded in the no man’s land between the opposing trench lines.
Stubby was awarded several medals for his services in the trenches, although all of them were of an unofficial nature, and the women of the French town of Chateau-Thierry made him a chamois coat on which to wear them. Stubby was credited with identifying a German spy whom he caught drawing a map of the American positions within the trenches. Stubby attacked the spy and continued to harass him until help from soldiers arrived.
For his efforts catching the spy Stubby was recommended for promotion to the rank of sergeant, although he held no official rank. Army records do not indicate that Stubby was officially promoted, but several biographers and memorials indicate that he was. The men of his regiment considered him a sergeant.
After the war Stubby, as did many World War I veterans, participated in numerous parades and celebrations of the victory. As a veteran he twice visited the White House, being met by President Harding and later by Harding’s successor, Calvin Coolidge. His master, Robert Conroy, enrolled in Law School at Georgetown University and Stubby became the mascot for the Georgetown Hoyas, forever linking the Hoya with a Bull Terrier, which may have been part of the breeding for Sergeant Stubby.