Sergeant Stubby Statue

Woof
Sergeant Stubby Statue, Middletown

If we’re to believe the entirely of Sergeant Stubby lore, this dog deserves even more than he got. And he got a lot, considering he was, y’know, a dog. I don’t remember how I first learned of the rather incredible dog and his story, but I can tell you that the 2018 animated eponymous movie is actually pretty darn good.

And the movie is, apparently, pretty darn accurate. The following is from Atlas Obscura which is just from AP articles and the like:

While training for combat deployment at Yale University in 1917, Private J. Robert Conroy discovered a stray puppy on the campus field. He named the dog Stubby (because of his short tail) and introduced him to the other men of his unit, the 102nd Infantry Yankee Division.

Stubby, a bull terrier, became the mascot of the 102nd and greatly boosted their morale. He quickly took to follow the daily training routine alongside his owner, even learning to salute by raising his right paw to his eyebrow. When Conroy shipped out to France, he smuggled Stubby on board the ship. The commanding officer discovered the stowaway once they reached land but allowed him to stay because he improved the men’s mood.

Stubby participated in many battles during the Great War. He frequently led wounded soldiers to safety or barked to summon help for men who were too injured to move. He also alerted his unit to deadly gas attacks thanks to his acute sense of smell. When he himself was injured and taken to a hospital, he frequently visited other recovering soldiers. When Stubby subdued a German spy by biting and hanging onto him, the 102nd Infantry’s commanding officer put in a request for him to receive the title of Sergeant, making him the first dog with a rank in the United States Armed Forces.

After participating in a battle to liberate the French town of Chateau Thierry, Stubby received a hand-sewn blanket embroidered with Allied flags from the local women. His medals and other souvenirs were added to this garment throughout his life. After leaving the army, Conroy regularly toured with Stubby to boost morale during and after wartime. The dog led American troops in parades and received honorary memberships in the YMCA and the American Legion, as well as a medal from the Humane Society. Stubby even met presidents Harding, Coolidge, and Wilson.

Just an amazing story, right? He really was a stray dog around the New Haven Green looking for scraps of food and wound up living this life. He was credited with saving many lives, mostly because he could alert everyone to mustard gas attacks. And his legacy lives on, not just on film and at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Middletown, but also at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. where his taxidermied body stands. There’s also a bronze statue of him at the Museum of the Dog in New York City.

But since he’s a Connecticut dog, I’m only focusing on his memorial in Middletown. It’s quite impressive; front and center and with a nice, long plaque of explanation. He’s in front of the hugely impressive Greater Middletown Military Museum which I recommend to anyone remotely interested in military history.

Stubby rules and I’m glad he got his due, both then and now. That’s all I’ve got.