STRANGER THAN FICTION

Blog number 285 **** 03 March 2009

During WW II a battle took place in the Argonne Forest, located in Eastern France when a supposedly beaten German army surprised a weak American force with a vastly superior army and created the famous "Battle of the Bulge."

In that same forest, in WW I, during a battle, a group of Americans got trapped behind enemy lines. This group became well known as the "Lost Battalion."

Headquarters didn't know where they were, and American artillery was shelling them.
The only communication the men had with headquarters was two homing pigeons.
One of the pigeons was released by a nervous and confused Private Richards without an attached message. The second pigeon, "Cher Ami" was released, but flew into a nearby tree and settled there. They threw stones at him, but he wouldn't move. Private Richards climbed the tree under fire and scolded the bird until he flew off.

Upon arrival at it's "home," Cher Ami's message was read and a major made a telephone call to the artillery battalion, but the telephone operator told the calling officer that that line was busy and nobody but the Chief of Staff could interrupt it. The major told the operator that he was the acting chief of Staff, but she didn't believe him. The major then asked to speak to the signal chief and was put through to him and when the signal chief heard what was happening, he rushed to get the shelling stopped.

The telephone operator overheard the conversation and began crying uncontrollably.

Cher Ami lost a leg and an eye en route. He was given an honorable retirement and died a year later. He was stuffed and now resides under glass in the Smithsonian Institution.

Sergeant York won his Medal of Honor when he assisted in the battle to break through to the "Lost Battalion" by killing 25 Germans and capturing 132 more, including four officers.

Another hero of this famous battle was Captain Frank Williams, an ex-sheriff from Montana who had performed as a fast draw artist in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

Reconnoitering a hill he came upon five Germans escorting an American prisoner. Williams sauntered toward them, his pistol in its holster. His empty hands might have put the Germans off guard because he shot four before they could raise their rifles. The one survivor surrendered.