Cher Ami (French for "dear friend", in the masculine) was a male homing pigeon known for his military service during World War I, especially the Meuse-Argonne offensive in October 1918. According to popular legend, he delivered a message alerting American forces to the location of the Lost Battalion, despite sustaining injuries such as being shot in the breast, losing his right leg and being blinded in his left eye.

Background and early life

Homing pigeons have been used for millennia to carry messages due to their innate ability to navigate home. They were used extensively as messengers during World War I, with France, Germany, and the United Kingdom having established pigeon messenger services before World War I broke out. The United States Army experimented with pigeon messengers successfully in 1878, and unsuccessfully in 1916.

When they arrived in France, the advantages of homing pigeons were reported to Colonel Edgar Russel, General John Pershing's chief signal officer, by the British and French. Cher Ami was one of 600 English-bred birds donated to the Pigeon Service on May 20, 1918. though estimates vary. Around 9:00 AM, two pigeons were sent out requesting artillery support, one of which contained incorrect coordinates. Around 3:00, when the shelling continued, Whittlesey wrote a note reading,|source=

He gave the note to Private Omer Richards, who placed it in a capsule and took one of two remaining pigeons from his pigeon basket. A nearby shell surprised the two, and the pigeon escaped.

Awards

The pigeon was awarded the Croix de Guerre Medal with a palm Oak Leaf Cluster for his heroic service in delivering 12 important messages in Verdun and was later inducted into the Racing Pigeon Hall of Fame in 1931. He also received a gold medal from the Organized Bodies of American Racing Pigeon Fanciers in recognition of his service during World War I.

In November 2019, he became the second recipient of the Animals in War & Peace Medal of Bravery, bestowed posthumously at a ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Books, essays, and short stories

  • "Notre Cher Ami: The Enduring Myth and Memory of a Humble Pigeon," an academic article by Frank A. Blazich Jr. in The Journal of Military History
  • Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey, a novel by Kathleen Rooney
  • Cher Ami: The Story of a Carrier Pigeon, a children's book by Marion Cothren, published in 1934
  • "Cher Ami", a poem by Harry Webb Farrington
  • Dear Miss Kopp by Amy Stewart, the sixth book in the Kopp Sisters series, features a fictionalized account of Cher Ami's exploits
  • Finding the Lost Battalion - Beyond the Rumors, Myths and Legends of America's Famous WWI Epic by Robert J. Laplander
  • "Cher Ami" a short story by Heather Rounds
  • "Viva Cuba Pigeon" a short story by Susannah Rodríguez Drissi
  • The Ruby Notebook by Laura Resau
  • "War Pigs", an essay in the collection Animals Strike Curious Poses by Elena Passarello
  • The story is discussed in "Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI" by Yuval Noah Harari, (Fern Press, 2024), ISBN 978-1911717089, pp. 3-4, 21-22

Film and TV

  • The Lost Battalion (1919 film), a 1919 silent film, includes the living Cher Ami hopping on one leg. This film also includes many of the soldiers playing themselves, including Lt. Col. Charles Whittlesey. The entire film is available on YouTube.
  • Cher Ami, a 2008 Spanish film directed by Miquel Pujol and produced by Accio Studios, also known as Flying Heroes or The Aviators.
  • Flying Home, 2014 a romantic drama film, starring Jamie Dornan features the story of Cher Ami's heroic feat.
  • Cher Ami is mentioned in season 3, episode 11 of White Collar, first aired 2011.
  • The Lost Battalion, a 2001 war film about the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of 1918, depicting Cher Ami being sent off with the important message.
  • A reference to Cher Ami is made in the 2024 Netflix series The Gentlemen.

See also

  • List of individual birds

Notes

References