The Legend Of G.i. Joe

[LokotaLoft]

Originally Posted by lindylou

Thank you, everyone who has expressed appreciation for my poem. I am sorry that I seem to have started a controversy (is this really G.I. Joe or Cher Ami?). I am guilty as charged of exercising a bit of poetic license in that there really is no record that G.I. Joe was wounded in action, whereas Cher Ami acutually sustained serious injury: "The soldier upcupped his hands and watched the bird (Cher Ami) flap its wings and gain altitude. The Germans also saw the pigeon and trained their rifles on it. A hail of bullets whizzed through the air and several hit Cher Ami. He quickly lost altitude and plummeted toward the ground. But moments before crashing, the bird somehow managed to spread his wings again and start climbing higher and higher, until he was out of rifle range. Twenty Minutes later and back on friendly terrain, Cher Ami landed at headquarters. A soldier ran to the bird and found him lying on his back, covered in blood. One eye and part of the cranium had been blown away, and its breast had been ripped open. A silver canister containing the Lost Battalion's desperate plea dangled from a few tendons--all that remained of the bird's severed leg. Bewildered, the soldier rushed the message to his commanding officer. For his courageous persistence, Cher Ami was awarded the French Croix de Guerre. Poor Cher Ami died from his multiple war wounds less than a year later and his stuffed but tattered body, carefully balanced on the one remaining leg--can still be seen on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C."" So, there you have it. When I wrote my poem, I wanted its contents to represent ALL the pigeons who served as brave messengers in the wars. In order to avoid further offence, I have given the poem a more generic title and hero name, and renamed the hero of the poem "Crazy Joe (who shall forthwith bare no resemblance to the war bird G.I. Joe. Anyway, I apologize for any hard feelings, and once again, thanks for your support. LOVED THE PICTURE, BY THE WAY OF THE OFF-SPRING OF G.I. JOE! Where on earth did you manage to find it, Lokotaloft?

I scanned it from a old book my mom got me at a yard sale,lucky find huh heres a picture of the Fort Monmouth, N.J.pigeon lofts where GI Joe was shipped from ... and about the book saying he was a red check splash ,in that pic it looks more like a blue check splash to me so umm not sure about that error sorry

[LokotaLoft]

and here is a picture of the famous "Cher Ami" while she was still alive and with only her one leg so Becky tell me this is the right bird please lol


sorry for the blurry side was best I could do

[MaryOfExeter]

Lol, yes Lokota that is the right bird The picture of GI Joe was him as well, they just had a typo with the color.

What is the name of that book? History concerning pigeons is really interesting to me

[LokotaLoft]

phew Im glad it was the right bird lol .. the name of the book is "Pet Library's Pigeon Guide" by Claude R. Hill ,its very informative ,has some good old pictures and it only cost a quarter ,well worth the price hehe

heres 1 on amazon for only 6.00$ if your interested ,you cant go wrong for that price if you ask me
http://www.amazon.com/Librarys-Pigeo...3488202&sr=1-3

[MaryOfExeter]

I will keep it in mind, thank you!