Sgt. Stubby

Sgt. Stubby(1917-1926): This Pit Bull, of unknown descent, was found by Private John Robert Conroy on the campus of Yale University, in 1917, while training for deployment to the European front of WWI. Stubby was a brown and white patched little puppy with a 'stubbed' tail, hence his name Stubby.

During the course of his stay at the camp with Private Conroy, and the other service men, Stubby became familiar with all of the bugle calls, the drill marching routines, and even learned to give a dog's version of a salute. He would would put his right paw on his right eyebrow when a salute was executed by others around him. Stubby's ability to salute struck a chord with the training camp commander and the dog was granted permission to remain with Private Conroy, even though pets were not allowed in the training compound.

Training finally came to an end and the camp packed up. Private Conroy was not willing to abandon Stubby when he left so instead he smuggled his beloved dog aboard the passenger truck that was transporting the men to the train depot. Next he smuggled Stubby aboard the train carrying the soldiers to the seaport of Newport News, Virginia. After successfully reaching the seaport, Stubby was concealed and brought on board a naval transport ship, heading for Europe. Stubby spent his first twelve hours or so hiding in the ships coal bin. By this time the ship was too far out to sea to turn back so Private Conroy brought him out on deck. Stubby became very popular with all the sailors and soldiers, and one sailor even made him a set of 'dog tags' (I.D. tags that soldiers wear to identify themselves).

The long sea voyage came to an end and now Stubby had to be smuggled off the ship into a foreign country, a real problem for Private Conroy and his dog. Private Conroy nestled Stubby, who had grown quite a bit since he was first discovered in the training camp, under his arm and draped his coat over his shoulder so it would hang down his body and conceal Stubby. It worked. They had made it to Europe.

It wasn't long before Private Conroy's new commander discovered that Stubby was with him. After listening to the story about Stubby's voyage, and the other soldiers who were attached to the dog, the commander allowed the dog to stay for 'morale purposes'. Several weeks passed and then the orders came down. Private Conroy's division, the 102d Infantry, which was a sub-division of the 26th Yankee Division, were heading to the front lines in France. Stubby was given special orders from Private Conroy's commander making him a member and special mascot of the 102d Infantry division. These orders allowed him to go to the front lines with Private Conroy and the rest of the soldiers. The 102d reached the front lines on the 5th of February, 1918. Things there were cold, wet and very dangerous. The soldiers lived in dug-out ditches called trenches. Water and mud gathered shin deep in these trenches, making it very unhealthy for the men and Stubby. Sniper fire was exchanged between the Germans and the allies constantly and men were killed and injured often. Stubby became accustomed to his new surroundings and learned to deal with the loud rifles and heavy artillery fire. All remained 'trench normal' until the day a large gas attack was launched by the Germans. The gas was a mixture of chemicals that burned the skin off, caused the lungs to blister, and the eyes to burn. This caused blindness, loss of limbs, and death in many cases. Stubby's first battle injury occurred due to gas exposure. He was taken to a nearby field hospital and nursed back to health. His exposure to the gas made him sensitive to even the slightest hint of the vapor. This came in handy several weeks later when an early morning gas attack was launched. The men in his portion of the trench were sleeping and were unaware that gas had just been launched. Stubby picked up the scent of the gas and ran through the trench barking and biting at the soldiers shirts and boots waking them. Some of the soldiers woke up and realized what was happening and sounded the gas alarm. Many men were saved that morning. Stubby left the trench to avoid the gas and didn't return until it was all clear.

http://www.pawsandclaws.com/pbstubby.htm



Sempers,

Roger

Goodmorning, I have just became a member a few minutes ago. I was doing some research on Pit Bulls, because I have two that I'm baby-sitting for my children. I'm very touched about the story of Sgt Stubby, because I just happen to have a dog that we call Stubby, sometimes Stubby Boy, his papers has his name as Mr. Stubbs. He happens to be tan/brown in color and has white patched spots in a few places. I'm in a battle with my Town Council members, because I have all 3 dogs in the middle of town, about 100 feet from Town Hall. We purchased Stubby, while in New Mexico, when I was working there. As we all know "ALL DOGS" can be mean and will attack. Several people got together and said I could not block the alley with my dogs. I told them that it wasn't an alley. The problem was the Mayor couldn't properly "read" the town map and I proved them all wrong. That was 2 months ago. My two pit bulls are on what, we southern boys call logging chains. "NO DOG" can break these chains and I even have the chains locked with with master locks as a choke type collar. Well Stubby isn't a Pit Bull according to his papers, but he has the head and chest that looks like a pit. He has always been house broke and he is now about 7 years old. He stays inside at night for my protection from local crackheads and thieves, who have tried to break-in on me 3-4 times while I was inside my little shop, so decided to also buy me a 9mm pistol. When outside Stubby is on a lease with a pretty orange collar. Well 3 days ago the Mayor came to me , because the same people are saying he will be able to bite through the rope, it's a half inch poly rope and he has never chewed on it, not once. Well I'm going to the town meeting next month and tell them I've had enough. It has become too personal and their very angry , that I proved them wrong on the alley. The people who owns the land behind me gave me permission to put my dogs there. As I said the story of Sgt Stubby is very touching to me , since I was also a Marine. HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!