The Bird, that is. Not the Action Figure.

When their country has needed their services, carrier pigeons have answered the call of duty. Perhaps the most famous was G.I. Joe. He was an American carrier pigeon credited with saving over 100 British troops and 1000 civilians.

G.I. Joe was born (hatched) On This Day, March 24, 1943 in Algiers, North Africa.

He underwent his “basic training” for two-way homing pigeons that had been perfected at Fort Monmouth, in New Jersey. Homing pigeons were used during World War I and World War II for communication and reconnaissance purposes.

In the summer of 1917, shortly after America’s entry in World War I, the Army started a carrier pigeon service at 74 training camps and posts, including Camp Meade. (Camp Meade became a permanent fort in 1928.) The U.S. Army Pigeon Breeding and Training Center headquarters was at Fort Monmouth, NJ.

The training camps together housed over 10,000 pigeons, with another 15,000 trained birds sent to Europe for s...