Stray to State - The Story of a Rare Soldier

STRAY TO STATE - THE STORY OF A RARE SOLDIER GB Sharma

Sergeant Stubby is one of the One day, this little cur ventured most decorated soldiers of into the parade ground. Though the American Army. He saved desolate and dejected, he was countless lives, saw more combat adorable. A soldier, John Robert and performed many badass feats Conroy took him to the barrack than any other soldier in the First and gave him food. He was a bull World War. He was unconscious of terrier and Conroy named him danger and his devotion to duty *”Stubby”* . The other soldiers was 100 %. also liked him and he slept in Stubby was not a man; but a DOG!! A stray dog in New Haven, Connecticut, U S A!!! the barrack. He hanged around the parade ground and started learning military ways. Conroy taught him to salute superior Born in 1916, his life was humble - officers by raising his forepaw hungry, cold, lonely and hopping to his brow. He even learned to between garbage bins in search of recognise bugle calls and imitated food. what the soldiers did. At that time, the soldiers of 102nd Orders came for the 102nd Regiment, 26th Infantry Division Regiment to move to France. The of the American Army were being ship SS Minnesota was ready to trained in the Yale University set sail. Conroy smuggled Stubby campus. They were getting ready on board by stuffing him into his for deployment in the battle field. ‘great coat’. When Conroy released

the dog out on to the deck, all the sailors accepted him as their guest. Stubby was treated well. To everyone’s nerves, the commanding officer discovered Stubby one day. Conroy signalled him to “Present Arms”. The goddamned beast saluted the commander. The officer showed a “WTF” expression and he immediately allowed the laudable lovely ‘soldier’ to follow the Yankee Division out to the battle front. (WTF is a vulgar American slang for expressing wonder, awe or extreme joy etc. Sorry, I could not find a better expression. However, in the context of American Army, WTF is acceptable. You may refer to the dictionary to know the expansion of WTF) Stubby rose to become a morale booster to the war weary soldiers. In all, Stubby participated in 17 battles and 4 major offensives.

In February 1918, Stubby suffered his first war wound. He was thought almost dead in a German mustard gas attack. But Stubby was a stray in his infancy.

Constant artillery and sniper gunshots only made Stubby stronger. In February 1918, Stubby suffered his first war wound. He was thought almost dead in a German mustard gas attack. But Stubby was a stray in his infancy. This much poison was not enough to kill that pit bull. He got well soon and it enhanced his sense of smell and now this little ‘bastard’ could sniff out even the slightest leak of mustard gas before it became deadly. From that time onwards he would run up and down the trenches alerting men barking and howling until they put their gas masks on, even at the slightest smell of poisonous gas. Thus Stubby saved many lives. His supersonic hearing detected artillery fire before the shells exploded. His amazing audio sense saved many men from being blown by heavy artillery. Stubby was so intelligent that he could distinguish English from German and he even detected Kraut spies and brought them

to books. (Kraut is a derogatory expression that denotes Germans). In April 1918, he was badly wounded in a grenade attack. An emergency surgery saved him. He was cheering up wounded soldiers in the field hospital during his convalescence. Soon he was back in the field. The army designed a special jacket for him and it was adorned with the several medals and colours he received. In September 1918, he discovered a camouflaged German spy hiding in the allied camp. He fiercely bit the spy at his calf and prevented him from running away and kept him there until the Americans came and arrested him. In the end, Stubby was promoted to the rank of Sergeant while his owner Conroy was still a corporal. This was the first such event in the American Army. After the war, Stubby was welcomed as a war hero and the YMCA provided him free food for life. Conroy joined Georgetown University for studying law and the sergeant went with him. Stubby became the mascot of the University Football Team. Stubby visited Whitehouse twice. When he was taken to various places, five star hotels relaxed their “no dogs allowed” policy and happily welcomed him. Stubby died in 1926 at the age of ten. His stuffed body is exhibited at the Smithsonian Museum of American History along with his belongings. “The noise and strain that shattered the nerves of many of his comrades did not impair Stubby’s spirits. Not because he was unconscious of danger. His angry howl while a battle raged and his mad canter from one part of the lines to another indicated realisation.”

1. Who is the present Attorney General of India? 2. Which country formally announced its withdrawal from WHO in July 2020? 3. Who was appointed as Prime Minister of France recently? 4. Which President of a country recorded a victory in the recently held Presidential polls, with which he is set to stay in power until the middle of the next decade i.e. until 2036? 5. Who became the new president of 75th UN General Assembly? 6. Which country declared itself free from “Coronavirus” in June 2020? 7. Which airport has won this year’s SKYTRAX Award for Best Regional Airport in India and Central Asia? 8. Which state has planned to launch India’s first Plasma Bank for COVID-19? 9. Who has been appointed as the first chairman of the International Financial Services Centre Authority? 10. What does the term SWIFT stand for in banking? 11. What is the commercial name of the chemical compound Sodium Bicarbonate? 12. To produce artificial rains, which chemical is used in Cloud Seeding? 13. With which Shakespeare play is this famous line associated : “What light through yonder window breaks”? 14. Who unraveled the structure of DNA?

Test GK

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15. To which age does the Indus Valley Civilisation belong? 16. Who got the ‘Bharat Ratna’ award before becoming the President of India? 17. Who is the only person to have won a Nobel Prize and an Oscar? 18. Saffron is obtained from which part of the plant? 19. What is the boundary between India and Pakistan known as? 20. Where are the words ‘Satyameva Jayate’ inscribed below the base plate of the emblem of India taken from?

SUDOKU-4

Why not give a small exercise to your brain by trying to solve this puzzle?

(Clue : Fill the given 9×9 grid with digits so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3×3 subgrids that compose the grid contain all of the digits from 1 to 9.)

(Answers on page 37)