November 12, 2018

Yesterday, November 11, marked the 100th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended World War I (1914-1918). Large, somber ceremonies took place on the anniversary in Berlin, London, Paris, and other cities, as well as at important battlefield sites and at Compiègne, the town in northern France where the armistice was signed in 1918.

In northeastern France, soldiers of the United States Army’s 7th Infantry Division cheer the end of World War I on Nov. 11, 1918. Credit: U.S. Army

At 11 a.m. on November 11 (“the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month”), Germany agreed to armistice terms with France and the United Kingdom, ending the last of the fighting during World War I. The war involved many more countries, however, and it caused greater destruction than any other war up to its time. The war took the lives of some 15 million people.

British troops leave their trenches during the 1916 Battle of the Somme during World War I. Credit: © Paul Popper, Popperfoto/Getty Images

Long-running tensions between Austria-Hungary and Serbia led to war in the summer of 1914. France, Russia, and the United Kingdom joined the war on Serbia’s side—a group that came to be known as the Allies. Germany backed Austria-Hungary to form the Central Powers. Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire later joined the Central Powers, and Italy, the United States, and other nations later joined the Allies. As part of the British Empire, soldiers from Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, and South Africa fought in the war, as did soldiers from Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, and other French colonies at the time. Belgium, Greece, Romania, and other nations were forced to fight as the war crossed their borders.

Soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) march through Sydney, Australia, in 1919, shortly after the end of World War I. Credit: Australian War Memorial

Fighting in World War I took place on the Western Front in Belgium and northern France; the Eastern Front in eastern Europe; the Italian Front along the border of Austria-Hungary and Italy; the Salonika Front in the Balkan Peninsula; and the Middle Eastern Front in southwestern Asia. Fighting also occurred in parts of Africa and around the world at sea.

Russia withdrew from the war in 1917, but the United States entered that year, providing the help the Allies needed to win the war. After a series of cataclysmic battles in the spring of 1918, the war turned quickly against the Central Powers. By the time Germany agreed to stop fighting on November 11, Bulgaria (September 29), the Ottoman Empire (October 30), and Austria-Hungary (November 3) had already left the war. The warring nations then signed a series of formal peace treaties. The Treaty of Versailles, signed between Germany and France, Italy, and the United Kingdom, embittered many Germans and was a rallying cry on the road to World War II (1939-1945). 

After World War I, November 11 was remembered annually as Armistice Day, a holiday now known as Veterans Day in the United States and Remembrance Day in the United Kingdom and nations of the former British Empire.

November 7, 2018

November is Native American Heritage Month in the United States. To celebrate the month, World Book looks at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington, D.C. The NMAI is devoted to the histories and cultures of the native peoples of the Americas. The museum works in cooperation with Native American communities to present objects, exhibits, and artworks of historical significance. The museum’s collections also showcase modern Native American arts and cultures. The NMAI, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution, has three facilities: the main museum campus on the National Mall; the George Gustav Heye Center in New York City; and the Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, Maryland.

The National Museum of the American Indian is devoted to the history and culture of the native peoples of North, Central, and South America. The museum’s building, in Washington, D.C., has smooth, rounded forms that were inspired in part by windswept rock formations. Many Native American architects and designers worked on the design. Credit: Pixabay

George Gustav Heye, an American art collector, established the Museum of the American Indian in New York City in 1916. In 1989, the United States Congress created the NMAI and moved Heye’s collection to the Smithsonian. The museum opened in 2004.

November is Native American Heritage Month in the United States. Credit: © Native American Heritage Month

This November, the NMAI is featuring an exhibit called “Patriot Nations: Native Americans in Our Nation’s Armed Forces.” The exhibit details the sometimes-conflicted participation of Native Americans in the U.S. military since the days of the American Revolution (1775-1783). It also details the new National Native American Veterans Memorial that will soon grace the museum’s grounds.

Native American Heritage Month began as American Indian Day in 1916, when certain states began honoring Native Americans with a day each May. President George H. W. Bush approved a joint resolution of Congress designating the first Native American Heritage Month in November 1990. The month honors all the native peoples of the United States, including Alaskan natives and Pacific Islanders.

October 29, 2018

On Oct. 29, 1618, 400 years ago today, Sir Walter Raleigh, one of the most colorful figures in English history, died in London at the age of around 66. Raleigh was a soldier, explorer, writer, and businessman. Daring and sometimes reckless, Raleigh spent much of his life working for the British Crown. He ran afoul of King James I, however, who jailed Raleigh and eventually executed him at the Palace of Westminster.

English adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh died 400 years ago today on Oct. 29, 1618. Credit: Sir Walter Raleigh (1598), oil on canvas attributed to William Segar; National Gallery of Ireland (© DeAgostini/Getty Images)

Raleigh was born (most likely in 1552) in Devonshire and was educated at Oxford University. He left school before graduating to join a band of gentlemen volunteers who were helping persecuted Huguenots in France. In 1578, he returned to England and joined his half brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, on a voyage of discovery and piracy.

In the early 1580′s, Raleigh frequented the court of Queen Elizabeth in London. Ever the enterprising gentleman, Raleigh is said to have removed his coat and laid it over a mud puddle for the queen to walk upon. The story’s truth is doubtful, but he did charm the queen, who granted him a large estate, gave him the right to colonize in America, and made him a knight. In return, Raleigh was a driving factor in naming a large swath of American territory Virginia in honor of Elizabeth, who was known as “The Virgin Queen.”

In 1585, an expedition sent by Raleigh established the first English colony in North America on Roanoke Island off the coast of modern day North Carolina. Sickness and fear caused the colony to fail, however. In 1587, Raleigh tried again at Roanoke, sending a group of 117 colonists there. John White, the Roanoke governor, went back to England for supplies. He was delayed by war with Spain, and when he returned to Roanoke in 1590, the settlers had mysteriously disappeared. (Raleigh himself never visited North America.) The Fort Raleigh National Historic Site commemorates those first English efforts to colonize America.

Raleigh also took part in the victory over the Spanish Armada in 1588. He led other expeditions against Spanish possessions and returned with much booty. During the 1590′s, his power reached its height, and he had much influence and many enemies. Raleigh, who was also a poet, helped Edmund Spenser publish the epic poem The Faerie Queene.

Raleigh’s fate turned when he married an attendant of Queen Elizabeth without royal permission. Expelled from the court, he searched for ways to recover his position and income. Intrigued by tales of El Dorado, a legendary city of gold in South America, he led a costly but fruitless expedition to Guiana.

Elizabeth died in 1603, and the new king, James I, distrusted and feared Raleigh. He charged Raleigh with treason and imprisoned him in the Tower of London. There Raleigh lived comfortably for 12 years with his family and servants, and wrote his History of the World. He was released in 1616 to again lead an expedition in search of gold in South America. The king ordered him not to invade Spanish territory during the mission, but Raleigh’s men attacked the Spaniards. Raleigh’s son Wat was killed in the attack, and Raleigh was forced to abandon the project.

Upon his return to England, Raleigh was sentenced to death for disobeying orders. He met his fate bravely, joked with the executioner, and even gave the signal for the ax to fall.

October 8, 2018

On Oct. 8, 1918, 100 years ago today, Alvin York, a soldier in the United States Army, killed more than 20 German troops and forced 132 others to surrender during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in France during World War I (1914-1918). York was a member of a patrol sent to silence German machine-gun nests. An expert marksman, York shot about 25 enemy soldiers and forced a German major to order the survivors to surrender. For his deed, York received the Medal of Honor, the highest award for courage given by the U.S. military. Marshal Ferdinand Foch of France called York’s action “the greatest thing accomplished by any private soldier of all the armies of Europe.” Although he became famous as “Sergeant York,” he held the rank of corporal at the time of his incredible feat.

Sergeant Alvin C. York is seen here in 1919 aboard the USS Ohioan, the troop transport that returned him to the United States after the end of World War I. Credit: National Archives

York’s Medal of Honor citation reads, “After his platoon had suffered heavy casualties and 3 other noncommissioned officers had become casualties, Cpl. York assumed command. Fearlessly leading 7 men, he charged with great daring a machine gun nest which was pouring deadly and incessant fire upon his platoon. In this heroic feat the machine gun nest was taken, together with 4 officers and 128 men and several guns.”

Alvin Cullum York was born on Dec. 13, 1887, in Fentress County, Tennessee, and grew up on a mountain farm. He developed amazing marksmanship with the rifle and pistol while a boy. He became deeply religious and sought exemption from the draft because he believed war was wrong. But he was denied exemption.

The 1941 motion picture Sergeant York told York’s life story and detailed his exploits of October 1918. York died on Sept. 2, 1964.

August 30, 2018

Major League Baseball (MLB) legend Ted Williams was born 100 years ago today, on Aug. 30, 1918. One of the best players in baseball history, Williams played 19 seasons with the Boston Red Sox from 1939 through 1960. (Williams, a left-handed-hitting outfielder, missed most of five seasons while serving in the United States Navy and Marine Corps.) A consistent and powerful hitter, Williams hit 521 career home runs, drove in 1,839 runs, and retired with a career .344 batting average. He also drew 2,021 career walks, and his .482 career on-base percentage is the best of all time. Nicknamed the “Splendid Splinter” or “Teddy Ballgame,” Williams won six American League (AL) batting titles, led the league in home runs four times, in runs batted in four times, and in runs scored six times. Williams won the triple crown of batting (leading the league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in) in 1942 and 1947. Williams was named to 18 AL All-Star teams, was the AL Most Valuable Player in 1946 and 1949, and he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966. In 1941, Williams batted .406, making him the last player to reach .400 in the major leagues.

Baseball legend Ted Williams was born 100 years ago today on Aug. 30, 1918. Credit: AP/Wide World

Theodore Samuel Williams was born and grew up in San Diego, California. He excelled at baseball in high school, and he signed a professional contract to play for the minor league San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League in 1936. In late 1937, Williams signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox. He was promoted to Boston for the 1939 season and quickly became a star.

The United States entered World War II (1939-1945) in December 1941, and many MLB players soon entered military service. After the 1942 season, Williams entered the Navy, where he trained as a fighter pilot and flight instructor. He served until the end of 1945, returning to the Red Sox lineup for the 1946 season. That year, Williams played in his only World Series (a loss to the Saint Louis Cardinals). A few years later, Williams’s baseball career was again paused while he served as a Marine combat pilot in the Korean War (1950-1953). He missed most of the 1952 and 1953 MLB seasons, but he returned in 1954 to bat .345. Williams retired as a player after the 1960 season. From 1969 through 1972, he served as manager of the Washington Senators and the Texas Rangers. The Red Sox retired Williams’s uniform number  9 in 1984. In 1991, Williams was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor awarded by the president of the United States. Williams died on July 5, 2002.

August 8, 2018

On Aug. 8, 1588, 430 years ago today, the British Navy defeated the Spanish Armada in the Battle of Gravelines off the coast of France. The Spanish Armada was a powerful fleet of armed ships and transports that tried to invade England. The defeat at Gravelines ended Spain’s hopes of invasion. The failure of the Armada was a great blow to the prestige of Spain, then the world’s most powerful country. Spain remained a major power after the battle, but English merchants and sailors challenged the Spaniards with greater confidence throughout the world.

British warships defeated the Spanish Armada in the Battle of Gravelines 430 years ago on Aug. 8, 1588. Credit: Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 8 August 1588 (1796), oil on canvas by Philip James de Loutherbourg; National Maritime Museum

Bad feeling between Spain and England had existed since the 1560′s. Spain was taking gold and silver from lands it had claimed in the Americas, and England wanted some of this wealth. Queen Elizabeth I encouraged Francis Drake and other English seamen to raid Spanish ships and towns, even though the countries were not at war.

Religious differences also caused conflict between the two nations. Spain was a Roman Catholic country, and most of England was Protestant. In the 1560′s, the English began to aid Dutch Protestants rebelling against Spanish rule in the Netherlands. In the early 1580′s, King Philip II of Spain started planning to send a fleet and army to invade England. He hoped to negate English help for the Dutch, end the English raids on Spanish shipping, and make England a Catholic country.

Philip began to assemble the Armada in January 1586. Spain built many new warships and armed its existing ones more heavily. It also rented many foreign ships. In 1587, the British raided the important Spanish harbor of Cadiz and destroyed about 30 ships. Work continued on the Armada however, and the fleet was brought together in May 1588 at the Portuguese port of Lisbon, which at that time was ruled by Spain. The fleet had about 130 ships and more than 29,000 men, most of them soldiers. Some of the ships lacked guns and experienced gunners; others carried no weapons at all, serving only as troop and supply transports. Philip named the Duke of Medina Sidonia to command the Spanish Armada. The duke was an experienced military planner but an inexperienced seaman.

As Spain planned for invasion, England prepared to defeat the Armada at sea. The British Navy armed many merchant vessels and added them to its fleet of warships. They gathered some 200 ships and nearly 16,000 men, most of them sailors rather than soldiers. Admiral Lord Howard of Effingham commanded the fleet, and his squadron leaders included the notable sailors Drake, John Hawkins, and Martin Frobisher.

The Armada left Lisbon on May 30, 1588. It entered the English Channel on July 30 and fought long-range gun duels with English warships during the next few days. On August 6, the Armada anchored at Calais, France. Medina Sidonia had planned to meet barges carrying Spanish troops from nearby Dunkerque, a port then in the Netherlands. But Dutch gunboats prevented the barges from meeting the Armada. This act doomed the Armada to failure.

In the early hours of August 8, the English sent eight fire ships (vessels filled with gunpowder and set on fire) toward the Armada. The Spanish ships sailed out to sea to escape the flames. Later that morning, about 60 English ships attacked an equal number of Spanish ships off the French port of Gravelines. The English sank several Spanish ships and damaged others.

The crippled Armada fled to the North Sea. It returned to Spain by sailing north around the islands of Great Britain and Ireland. High winds wrecked many ships off Ireland’s coast, and only about two-thirds of the fleet safely returned to Spain.

August 2, 2018

One hundred years ago, in 1918, the Spanish flu began taking its deadly toll around the world. The Spanish flu was the worst outbreak of influenza, or flu, in history. Medical historians estimate that from 1918 through 1919, the Spanish flu killed at least 600,000 people in the United States and 20 million to 50 million people worldwide. The Spanish flu was the first and most severe of three pandemics (worldwide occurrences) of influenza in the 1900’s. Less severe pandemics occurred in 1957 and in 1968.

The Camp Jackson Base Hospital in South Carolina is filled with Spanish flu patients in the fall of 1918. Credit: Otis Historical Archives/National Museum of Health and Medicine

The Spanish flu struck in the final year of World War I (1914-1918), while many European nations were concentrating on war efforts. Many soldiers died of influenza, and troop concentrations and movements helped spread the disease. Most countries at war did not publicly acknowledge the number of deaths from influenza because of strict wartime censorship. The pandemic became known as the Spanish flu because the disease was widely reported in Spain, which remained neutral during the war.

Spanish flu caused symptoms similar to other influenza infections, including fever, chills, headaches, body aches, and fatigue. However, many people suffering from Spanish flu quickly developed severe pneumonia (inflammation of the lungs) and pulmonary edema (excess fluid accumulation in the lungs), causing victims to suffocate. Unlike other varieties of influenza, which most seriously affect infants and the elderly, the Spanish flu killed mainly young, healthy adults between 20 and about 40 years of age.

Medical historians believe the virus that caused Spanish flu, like many strains of influenza virus, probably originated in Asia. However, the first reported outbreaks of the disease occurred in the United States. The disease quickly spread to Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. During the height of the pandemic, the huge number of deaths severely disrupted many societies. Many countries tried various public health measures to contain the pandemic. In the United States, several cities closed schools, churches, theaters, and other public gathering places. By the end of 1919, the pandemic had largely ended.

Scientists have long sought to discover why the particular variety of influenza that caused the Spanish flu was so deadly and spread so quickly. In the 1990’s, they identified preserved lung tissue of victims of the disease that still contained the genetic information from the Spanish flu virus. They confirmed it as a variety of H1N1, one of several types of influenza viruses that can infect both people and certain animals, such as swine. Scientists believe birds are the original source of the Spanish flu and other pandemic influenza viruses. Birds carry many varieties of influenza viruses and in rare occasions transmit these viruses to human beings. In 2005, scientists re-created the Spanish flu virus through a process called reverse genetics. By studying the virus, they hope to discover why the disease spread so quickly and why it was so deadly. In addition, scientists can study the Spanish flu virus to develop new vaccines and treatments to prevent or contain future influenza outbreaks.

May 22, 2018

Fifty years ago today, on May 22, 1968, the United States Navy nuclear submarine USS Scorpion (SSN-589) disappeared in the North Atlantic Ocean. USS stands for United States Ship. SSN designates a nuclear-powered attack submarine. Scorpion was returning home from operations in the Mediterranean Sea when the submarine lost all contact near the Azores, a group of islands about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) west of Portugal. Five months after the submarine’s disappearance, Scorpion was found on the sea bottom some 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) below the ocean surface. All 99 crew members died on board. No official explanation for the loss of the submarine was ever made.

Crew members of USS Scorpion appear topside in Italian waters near the Bay of Naples in April 1968. The submarine was lost with all hands a month later. Credit: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command

Scorpion was launched in 1959. In the early 1960′s, the submarine ran Navy patrols in European waters in conjunction with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Scorpion later participated in exercises along the Atlantic coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea. From February 1968 until May, the submarine patrolled and visited ports along the Mediterranean Sea. On May 21, while returning home, Scorpion reported a position about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of the Azores. It was the submarine’s final communication. On May 27, Scorpion was reported overdue for its arrival at Norfolk, Virginia, and on June 5, the submarine was “presumed lost.”

Navy searches turned up nothing for several months. In late October 1968, the Navy oceanographic ship Mizar found Scorpion’s battered hull on the sea floor southwest of the Azores. The submarine’s location some 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) below the surface prevented salvage efforts and made the investigation a difficult one. Deep-sea submersibles took numerous photographs that showed significant damage to several parts of the submarine. Some of the damage could have been caused by an explosion, but the entire submarine was crushed as the submarine sank into the massive pressure of extreme sea depths. The maximum emergency dive range of the submarine was less than 1,500 feet (457 meters). No official explanation was ever made for the loss of Scorpion, but the Navy’s most likely theory was that an accidental detonation of a torpedo destroyed the submarine.

Scorpion was the second and last U.S. Navy nuclear submarine lost at sea. USS Thresher (SSN-593) was lost with 129 lives during a training exercise in 1963.

May 9, 2018

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM) in the United States. To celebrate, World Book examines the life of Florence Ebersole Smith Finch (1915-2016), a Filipino-American heroine of World War II (1939-1945). During most of the war, Finch struggled against the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. At that time, the Philippines was a U.S. commonwealth. The Philippines—particularly the main island of Luzon—was the scene of heavy fighting during the war. Finch later served in the U.S. Coast Guard.

Florence Finch helped many American and Filipino prisoners of war survive World War II. Credit: United States Coast Guard

Finch was born Loring May Ebersole on Oct. 11, 1915, in the Luzon city of Santiago. She was the daughter of an American veteran of the Spanish-American War (1898) and a Filipino mother. After high school, Finch worked as a stenographer at the U.S. Army Intelligence headquarters in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. (A stenographer is a person who writes down words as they are spoken in a form called shorthand. Later the shorthand is written—usually typewritten—in a more easily read long form.) She married U.S. Navy Chief Electrician’s Mate Charles E. Smith in August 1941. The Japanese invaded Luzon in December, and took control of Manila in January 1942. Charles Smith was killed in action in February. Filipino and U.S. forces in the Philippines surrendered to the Japanese in May. To avoid internment in a prison camp, Finch disguised her American heritage and took a job with the occupying Japanese forces.

Finch secretly corresponded with U.S. and Filipino servicemen captured by the Japanese, and she helped get food and supplies to the starving prisoners. She also guided fuel and other supplies to Filipino resistance groups and assisted in acts of sabotage against the Japanese. In October 1944, the Japanese discovered her activities and she was arrested, tortured, starved, and imprisoned at a women’s camp in Mandaluyong near Manila. Finch survived the ordeal, and American forces freed her in February 1945. The Japanese officially surrendered on September 2, ending World War II.

In May 1945, Finch moved to live with family in Buffalo, New York. She served in the U.S. Coast Guard Women’s Reserve from July 1945 until May 1946. She then attended secretarial school and married Army veteran Robert Finch. In November 1947, the U.S. government awarded Florence Finch the Medal of Freedom (now called the Presidential Medal of Freedom), the nation’s highest civilian award. Finch and her husband lived in Ithaca, New York, where she worked as a secretary at Cornell University. Finch died in Ithaca on Dec. 8, 2016.

APAHM celebrates the culture, traditions, and history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. It began as a two-week celebration in 1978 and expanded to the full month of May in 1990. May was chosen to commemorate the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants in the United States—noted as May 7, 1843—and for the May 10, 1869, completion of the American transcontinental railroad. The railroad companies laying the tracks relied heavily on Chinese immigrant workers.

May 3, 2018

Dogs have lived with people as pets for more than 10,000 years. Over that time, dogs have accompanied people in all sorts of situations, including when people have gone to war. Dogs fought alongside soldiers in the days of ancient Rome, and they continue to do so today. One hundred years ago, in the final year of World War I (1914-1918), one particular war dog earned military and other honors in the United States Army. That dog, a pit bull terrier named Stubby, also earned his stripes and achieved the Army rank of sergeant.

Sergeant Stubby wears his stripes and several medals on his Army uniform. Credit: Division of Armed Forces/Smithsonian National Museum of America History

Stubby was a scrawny brown-and-white puppy when he wandered onto the campus of Yale University in Connecticut in 1917. At the time, the Army’s 102nd Infantry Regiment was training there before being sent to Europe to fight in the war. Stubby seemed to enjoy running among the troops on the practice field as they marched and drilled. One of the soldiers, Private John Robert Conroy, became especially attached to Stubby.

When the 102nd received orders to board a troop ship headed for France, Conroy smuggled Stubby aboard. The rest of the men quickly became fond of the little stowaway, and Stubby became the mascot of the 102nd Regiment. The soldiers even taught the dog to salute—Stubby would raise his right front paw to his face.

John Robert Conroy and Sergeant Stubby pose for a post-war photo in March 1919. Credit: Division of Armed Forces/Smithsonian National Museum of America History

Soon after the 102nd arrived in Europe, the regiment was sent to fight on the Western Front in France. Stubby had never been trained in the horrific conditions of war, but from the beginning, the small dog reacted calmly to the noise and confusion of the battlefield. When the soldiers heard incoming shells and ran to take cover in the trenches, Stubby ran, too. Soon, with his superior canine hearing, Stubby would know that shells were coming before the men did. When the soldiers saw Stubby run for cover, they ran too.

But Stubby did more than run and hide from danger. When any of his men were injured during a battle, Stubby would run out onto the field, find the soldier, and stay with him until he could be rescued. Stubby’s daring actions resulted twice in wounds and the dog was cared for in a Red Cross hospital.

Besides his excellent hearing, Stubby also possessed a canine’s superior sense of smell. During a gas attack by the enemy, Stubby gave his troops early warning and saved the soldiers from injury or death. Stubby also carried messages across the battlefield, took turns at guard duty, and once even caught a German spy! For his service, Stubby was made an honorary sergeant in the U.S. Army.

After the war, Sergeant Stubby returned to the United States with Conroy. He was introduced to President Woodrow Wilson (whom Stubby saluted) and later met Presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge. Stubby marched in many parades and was named a life member of the Red Cross, the American Legion, and the YMCA.

When Conroy went to Georgetown University to study law, Stubby became the mascot of the university’s football team. Stubby often enjoyed playing with the football on the sidelines at halftime. Stubby eventually died of old age in 1926, with his favorite soldier, Conroy, at his side.

Sergeant Stubby was the subject of the 1978 children’s book, Stubby—Brave Soldier Dog. In 2018, an animated film, Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero, recounted Stubby’s story and that of his best friend, Private Conroy.