World War 2 Hero: Judy, the English Pointer

 

Judy, a purebred pointer, was the mascot of several ships in the Pacific and was captured by the Japanese in 1942 and taken to a prison camp. There she met Aircraftsman Frank Williams, who shared his small portion of rice with her.

Judy raised morale in the POW camp and also barked when poisonous snakes, crocodiles, or even tigers approached the prisoners. When the prisoners were shipped back to Singapore, she was smuggled out in a rice sack, never whimpering or betraying her presence to the guards.

The next day, that ship was torpedoed. Williams pushed Judy out of a porthole in an attempt to save her life, even though there was a 15-foot drop to the sea. He made his own escape from the ship but was then recaptured and sent to a new POW camp.

He didn't know if Judy had survived, but soon he began hearing stories about a dog helping drowning men reach pieces of debris after the shipwreck. And when Williams arrived at the new camp, he said: "I couldn’t believe my eyes! As I walked through the gate, a scraggly dog hit me square between the shoulders and knocked me over. I’d never been so glad to see the old girl!"

They spent a year together at that camp in Sumatra. "Judy saved my life in so many ways," said Williams. "But the greatest of all was giving me a reason to live. All I had to do was look into those weary, bloodshot eyes and ask myself: 'What would happen to her if I died?' I had to keep going."

Once hostilities ceased, Judy was then smuggled aboard a troopship heading back to Liverpool. In England, she was awarded the Dickin Medal (the "Victoria Cross" for animals) in May 1946. Her citation reads: "For magnificent courage and endurance in Japanese prison camps, which helped to maintain morale among her fellow prisoners, and also for saving many lives through her intelligence and watchfulness".

At the same time, Frank Williams was awarded the PDSA's White Cross of St. Giles for his devotion to Judy. Frank and Judy spent a year after the war visiting the relatives of English POWs who had not survived, and Frank said that Judy "always provided a comforting presence to the families."

When Judy finally died at the age of 13, Frank spent two months building a granite and marble memorial in her memory, which included a plaque describing her life story.  (via Facebook)

Facebook: Judy, the Pointer

**

US General Election 2020: Farewell, So Long, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

 I write this post a couple of weeks before USA's very important General Election. We should be in Europe by now, Lord willing -- on a long-awaited vacation and/or an escape from these "tumultuous" time. 

So, will it be President Trump, or a President Harris ... ehrrrr, President Biden??  Either way...

For a small amount of perspective at this moment, imagine you were born in 1900. When you are 14, World War I starts, and ends on your 18th birthday with 22 million people killed. Later in the year, a Spanish Flu epidemic hits the planet and runs until you are 20. Fifty million people die from it in those two years. Yes, 50 million.

When you're 29, the Great Depression begins. Unemployment hits 25%, global GDP drops 27%. That runs until you are 33. The country nearly collapses along with the world economy. When you turn 39, World War II starts. You aren’t even over the hill yet.

When you're 41, the United States is fully pulled into WWII. Between your 39th and 45th birthday, 75 million people perish in the war and the Holocaust kills six million. At 52, the Korean War starts and five million perish.

At 64 the Vietnam War begins, and it doesn’t end for many years. Four million people die in that conflict. Approaching your 62nd birthday you have the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tipping point in the Cold War. Life on our planet, as we know it, could well have ended. Great leaders prevented that from happening.

As you turn 75, the Vietnam War finally ends. Think of everyone on the planet born in 1900. How do you survive all of that? A kid in 1985 didn’t think their 85 year old grandparent understood how hard school was. Yet those grandparents (and now great grandparents) survived through everything listed above.

Perspective is an amazing art. Let’s try and keep things in perspective. Let’s be smart, help each other out, and we will get through all of this. In the history of the world, there has never been a storm that lasted. This too, shall pass.

***

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call 

on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

 (Acts 2:21)

Perspective is Amazing ...

**

TBT: Cologne, Germany & Me

First, to properly pronounce the town of Cologne's name, click H E R E.  
It is not how we Westerners would usually do it. My DIL, who is German, says it perfectly.

Second, the Fox News post below prompted a memory of Sis' father-in-law's warning during our visit to Germany approximately 1 year ago. Americans are generally disliked by the people of Cologne  and for good reason.  The town was devastatingly destroyed and flattened, and many thousands were killed or homeless during World War 2 because of the Allies.

The Allies dropped 44,923.2 tons of bombs on the city during World War II, destroying 61% of its built up area. During the Bombing of Cologne in World War II, Cologne endured 262 air raids by the Western Allies, which caused approximately 20,000 civilian casualties and almost completely wiped out the central part of the city. During the night of 31 May 1942, Cologne was the target of "Operation Millennium", the first 1,000 bomber raid by the Royal Air Force in World War II. 1,046 heavy bombers attacked their target with 1,455 tons of explosives, approximately two-thirds of which were incendiary. This raid lasted about 75 minutes, destroyed 600 acres of built-up area (61%), killed 486 civilians and made 59,000 people homeless. - wikipedia

World War II veteran Clarence Smoyer, 95, received the Bronze Star Medal on Wednesday for his heroic actions that helped destroy a German tank and take the crucial city of Cologne.

Smoyer was a tank gunner with the famous "Eagle 7" M26 Pershing tank crew, which blew up a Nazi Panther tank that had killed several American soldiers on March 6, 1945. 

His lieutenant told them, "'Gentlemen, I give you Cologne. Let's knock the hell out of it,' and we obliged," Smoyer told the Defense Department following the event at the National World War II Memorial in Washington.

I am thankful that historic Cologne Cathedral remains standing though it sustained 14 aerial bomb hits during WW2. No, I am not a Catholic; I admire it for its historical significance and as a great example of gothic architecture. 

From the air during the War, it was an easily distinguished landmark. (pc: wikipedia)

And I will restore to you

 the years that the locust hath eaten...

Joel 2

Cologne, Germany

Cologne Cathedral

**

Honor Flight for Sergeant Bennett

Hi R: my dad is going on an honor flight early in July. They do mail call for the Vets and would like each Vet to have around 30 pieces of mail for it. Would you be able to jot him a note? I can send you a pdf with the address and deadline. My dad got the info on this late because he couldn't make the other dates.



Of course I said YES! I've known Mr Bennett since my first year of high school. He'd pick up his daughter - my classmate - in front of the school and say "Hi!" or smile whenever I walked by his car. What a breath of friendly, fresh air in a socially-awkward season of my life. Only now do I realize the chunk of time he was away from Family and the sacrifice it took for him to serve our country.

pc: NBC News

C. E. Bennett was in the Army from 1947-1967. Jobs: 1 1/2 years- GHQ Guard company, Japan, 2 years, Rifleman in Mortar Section in Alaska, 2 years in the 50s- 2nd Armored Division in Mannheim,Germany, 2 years in the 60s 3rd/4th Armored Division Crailsheim, Germany as a Supply Sergeant, 1 year as a Supply Sergeant in Vietnam. A member of the 1st Infantry Division (Big Red One). Retired after 20 years, Rank E6 Staff Sergeant And he turned 89 on July 6, 2019.

 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; 

custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

Romans 13:7

Honor Flight Chicago

How a Vietnam War POW used the Tune of “Old MacDonald” to Save Lives

**