The immensely colossal, official medal on a ribbon around the neck of the Pit Bull in the photo is just one of many awards granted to Stubby, most adorned canine war hero in United States history.

Stubby’s contribution to the welfare of American soldiers was in many ways unique. Stubby was a stray who turned up one day in the summer of 1917 at the Yale Bowl in Connecticut as soldiers trained. Corporal J. Robert Conroy patted the amicable canine and asked, “How are you today?”

Stubby was very astute, so Conroy edified him to shake hands, an artifice that was in great favor with the troops. Then he realized he could edify him to raise his paw up just a little farther towards his brow when he was given the order to, “Salute!”

The night afore they sailed for France, Conroy went down to the ship, the S.S. Minnesota, and introduced Stubby to the military police officer who was sentineling it. According to Conroy, the officer was delectated by Stubby’s military salute, enough to let Conroy sneak him onboard the next day, under his overcoat. …show more content…
He was not a trained war canine. But Conroy verbally expressed that Stubby descried the first night that when the soldiers aurally perceived the whine of an incoming rocket, they dove for cover in the trenches. He went with them, and a frightening explosion followed.

The second night, as they sat shivering around a fire, “Stubby suddenly stood up and looked into the distance, his auditory perceivers vigilant. He whined and ran to the foxhole.”

Conroy and the men didn’t hesitate. They ran for cover, even afore they auricularly discerned the unpleasant sound. The rocket came in, eerily proximate to its mark. It hit so proximate to the camp that Conroy and the others would have been killed or wounded by shrapnel if they hadn’t moved out of the way. Stubby’s warning had preserved their