Sergeant Stubby
INTRODUCTION.
-)Sergeant Stubby (1916 – March 16, 1926) was a dog and the unofficial mascot of the 102nd Infantry Regiment (United States) and was assigned to the 26th (Yankee) Division in World War I. He served for 18 months and participated in 17 battles on the Western Front. He saved his regiment from surprise mustard gas attacks, found and comforted the wounded, and allegedly once caught a German soldier by the seat of his pants, holding him there until American soldiers found him. His actions were well-documented in contemporary American newspapers
AFTER THE WAR.
-) After returning home, Stubby became a celebrity and marched in, and normally led, many parades across the country. He met Presidents Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, and Warren G. Harding. He also appeared on vaudeville stages owned by Sylvester Z. Poli and was awarded lifetime memberships to the American Legion and the YMCA.
In 1921, General of the Armies John J. Pershing presented a gold medal from the Humane Education Society to Stubby, the subject of a famous photograph and other artistic media.During that same year, he attended Georgetown University Law Center along with Conroy, and became the Georgetown Hoyas' team mascot.Given a football at halftime, he would nudge it around the field, to the amusement of the fans.While still a student at Georgetown, Conroy was also employed as a special agent of the Bureau of Investigation, precursor to the FBI.
Stubby died in his sleep in March 1926.After his death he was preserved via taxidermy and his cremains were sealed inside of the mount. Conroy later presented Stubby to the Smithsonian in 1956. The taxidermy mount of the dog is part of the permanent collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and is currently on display in their “Price of Freedom: Americans at War” exhibted.
LEGECY.
-) Stubby received an obituary in the New York Times following his death in 1926. The obituary was half a page, much longer than the obituaries of many notable people of that time period.
He was also the subject of a portrait by "Capitol artist" Charles Ayer Whipple.He was featured in the Brave Beasts exhibit at the Legermuseum in Delft, The Netherlands from 2008 to 2009. During a ceremony held on Armistice Day in 2006, a brick was placed in the Walk of Honor at the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City to commemorate Sergeant Stubby.
Stubby was the subject of at least four books.In 2014, BBC Schools WWI series used Stubby as a Famous Figure to help teach children about the war, along with creating an animated comic strip to illustrate his life.
Stubby has his portrait on display at the West Haven Military Museum in Connecticut.
The descendants of Robert Conroy dedicated a life-size bronze statue of Stubby named "Stubby Salutes," by Susan Bahary, in the Connecticut Trees of Honor Memorial at Veteran's Memorial Park in Middletown, Connecticut, in May 2018. The statue pays tribute to fallen Connecticut veterans, where both Stubby and Robert Conroy are from.
