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Pigeons delivered messages and saved lives, and are worthy of respect today.
During World War I, a member of the U.S. Army Signal Corps carried a desperate message from American soldiers trapped under friendly fire in France's Argonne Forest. He completed his mission, saving hundreds of lives, but sustained life-threatening injuries. Army medics patched up a chest wound and amputated his leg — a gesture of respect and care from those serving alongside him. He survived and was awarded France's Croix de Guerre and an official commendation from the Signal Corps, and returned home a national hero.
He was a pigeon. Named Cher Ami (dear friend), he is now displayed at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, where he “symbolizes the thousands of carrier pigeons who carried messages for the U.S. Army Signal Corps.”
The humble pigeon — shooed from sidewalks yet honored on battlefields — once carried life-or-death messages through enemy fire and across hostile lines. Frequently and sometimes mortally wounded, these steadfast birds proved that courage isn't limited to those who wear a uniform.
Long before the advent of texts or satellite radios, there were pigeons. The Persians relied on them to deliver royal decrees, while Roman legions sent news of their victories on the wing. In medieval Europe, merchants depended on pigeons to quickly relay important information about trade and finance over long distances. For centuries, these birds' remarkable ability to navigate home — guided by sight, sound, magnetism, and instinct — made them indispensable.
In 1917, the U.S. Army Signal Corps created the U.S. Army Pigeon Service to breed, train, and deploy homing pigeons for frontline communications. During both World Wars, the Signal Corps transported mobile lofts filled with trained pigeons to the front lines. When communication wires were cut and radios were jammed, a pigeon could serve as a lifeline.
Another pigeon, President Wilson, displayed the same determination as Cher Ami but paid the ultimate price. Dispatched with corrected coordinates to stop friendly fire that was hitting U.S. troops pinned down by German artillery, he flew through smoke and shelling, mortally wounded, yet delivered his message. President Wilson's bravery was honored in a Signal Corps commendation as “a game little soldier who came through fire and fog.”
A generation later, during World War II, G.I. Joe flew 20 miles in 20 minutes to stop an Allied airstrike on a recently recaptured village, saving more than a hundred soldiers. He received the Dickin Medal, considered the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross. Other pigeons, like Mocker and Yank, also earned Army commendations for delivering critical messages through enemy fire and challenging conditions that shifted the course of battles. Together, these birds embodied the Signal Corps' enduring motto: “No message left behind.”
These were not isolated heroes. Countless other pigeons served on battlefronts across Europe, North Africa, and the Pacific. The Army's records bear witness to their reliability: More than 90% of messages carried by pigeons in combat arrived safely.
Pigeons Today
Remarkable in war, pigeons are equally impressive in everyday life. They recognize their reflections in mirrors — one of the few non-mammals known to do so. They can distinguish letters of the alphabet, detect subtle differences in paintings, and have even been trained to differentiate breast cancer from benign masses on mammograms — a testament to their visual intelligence and adaptability.
Beyond intelligence, they are devoted family birds. Once they pair, it's typically for life. Pigeons are model co-parents, alternating between brooding over eggs and feeding their chicks, seamlessly exchanging responsibilities.
Despite their heroism, loyalty, and resilience, pigeons have often been mistreated. Ironically, the very traits that make them invaluable — endurance, intelligence, and devotion — have also made them susceptible to human exploitation. Prized pigeons were bred for show or speed, with breeding sometimes taken to harmful extremes. Meanwhile, common pigeons were trapped and released for shooting contests — a popular pastime in Europe and later in the United States — resulting in tens of thousands of needless deaths for sport, until the invention of the clay pigeon began to replace live birds by the 20th century.
The pigeons we see in cities worldwide today are descendants of rock doves native to Southern Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. Their natural habitat of cliffs and rocky areas translates well to the “concrete jungle.” Though mostly feral, they serve an ecological niche in cities, cleaning up food waste, sustaining raptors, providing scientists with a window into urban ecology, and serving as ambassadors of the natural world in places that might otherwise be nearly devoid of avian life. Charles Darwin kept and bred pigeons, becoming deeply fond of them. Their endless variety — in color, form, and behavior — helped inspire his understanding of variation and natural selection.
Pigeons may no longer be called to the front lines, but these often overlooked birds still retain the same sharp instincts and unerring sense of direction that once made them heroes.
And while we honor their service, it's worth remembering that these birds didn't volunteer for duty. They were drafted into danger by humans who recognized their gifts and used them to save other humans. Yet even in that uneasy partnership, they revealed something enduring about the natural world — that courage, loyalty, and intelligence are not uniquely human. To see them now, not as nuisances but as survivors, is to recognize how closely our stories have always been intertwined.
This Veterans Day, let's take a moment to honor these brave and devoted birds.
Read More About These Remarkable Birds
If this story sparked your curiosity, these books reveal just how extraordinary pigeons really are — through history, science, and art alike.
Superdove: How the Pigeon Took Manhattan — and the World
By Courtney Humphries
An engaging look at how pigeons have made themselves at home in cities everywhere — resourceful, social, and far smarter than most of us imagine.
Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World’s Most Revered and Reviled Bird
By Andrew D. Blechman
A compelling history of our long and complicated relationship with pigeons — from royal messengers and wartime heroes to expendable targets of disdain — revealing as much about us as it does about them.
The New York Pigeon: Behind the Feathers
By Andrew Garn
A beautiful photographic portrait that captures the iridescence, individuality, and dare I say, charm, of urban pigeons, inviting us to see their beauty in a new light.
