During World War I, Major Charles White Whittlesey led a battalion of Americans fighting in France. In October of 1918, he and 500 of his troops got trapped in enemy territory. They had no food and no ammunition for their weapons.

Major Whittlesey was worried that other Americans would shoot his troops since they were behind enemy lines. He tried to send them a message by pigeon. The first two pigeons that he used were shot down. Finally, the third pigeon succeeded.

The successful pigeon’s name was Cher Ami. Her message read, “We are along the road parallel to 276.4. Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us. For heaven’s sake, stop it.” When the message was delivered, the other Americans stopped firing. The troops were saved.

Cher Ami delivered twelve messages during her service to the U.S. Army Signal Corps. She received the Croix de Guerre medal for bravery. When she died in 1919, her body was displayed at the Smithsonian museum in Washington, D.C.

Cher Ami was one of many pigeons that served during the war. Pigeons who carry messages in this way are called Carrier pigeons. They have small tubes attached to their legs. The message sender writes a note on a piece of paper and rolls it inside the tube.

Carrier pigeons belong to a special breed of pigeon called Homing pigeons. Homing pigeons are bred to find their way home over long distances. When the pigeon is released, it flies to the place that it mentally marked as home.

Carrier pigeons have been used to deliver messages since ancient times. They are still used in remote areas to communicate across long distances. The longest known flight for a Homing pigeon was 7,200 miles. The pigeon flew from France to Vietnam in 1931.