A closer look
Cher Ami was a homing pigeon deployed by the US Army during World War I who successfully delivered a life-saving message despite being shot through the chest, blinded in one eye, and having a leg hanging by a single tendon. This heroic avian transported the exact coordinates of a trapped battalion, saving nearly two hundred human soldiers from friendly artillery fire. Upon returning to base in this horrific state, the bird was patched up, awarded a prestigious French medal, and given a tiny wooden leg carved by military doctors. We now use multi-billion-dollar encrypted satellites to text people absolute nonsense, while an actual bleeding bird dragged itself across a battlefield to execute the most metal logistics operation in human history
