Communication Heros of the Lost Battalion

I took time to watch The Lost Battalion this afternoon. A depiction of the October 1918 events in which 500 men were trapped behind German lines in the Argonne Forest near the end of WWI, it captures a wonderful depiction of leadership and communication. Individual heroism is depicted by the Americans, the Germans and a small Carrier Pigeon to include MAJ Charles White Whittlesey, 2LT Erwin Russell Bleckley, CAPT George Gibson McMurtry, 1LT Harold Ernest Goettler, COL Nelson M. Holderman and German Lieut. Heinrich Prinz who had lived in Seattle, Washington for many years and the most famous of all, the Carrier Pigeon Cher Ami, who was awarded the Croix de Guerre Medal with a palm Oak Leaf Cluster for his heroic service in delivering 12 important messages in Verdun. Of note, Cher Ami was the only one of three pigeons launched from the battalion to successfully fly 25 miles in 25 minutes while under enemy fire. The message, sent by Whittlesey:

"We are along the road parallel to 276.4. Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us. For heaven's sake, stop it!"

This act saved the battalion from its own allied artillery fire. In this last mission Ami suffered a bullet through the breast, was blinded in one eye and covered in blood, and arrived with a leg hanging only by a tendon. Army medics worked long and hard to save his life. They were unable to save his leg, so they carved a small wooden one for him. Ami died in New Jersey in 1919. He currently is enshrined in the Smithsonian Institution.

The Lost Battalion References: For the Men on the Ground and History and Rhymes of the Lost Battalion by Buck Private L.C. McCollum.