Navy Blue

France, June 1944 — a raiding party cut off near the coast, radios dead, men hiding among the dunes. One pigeon left: NPS.41.NS.2862. Released into rain and tracer light, he climbed until his wings blurred against the clouds. Halfway across the Channel, shrapnel tore through one wing, but he kept flight, listing eastward until he reached the coast of England.

The message gave their position. The men were found alive. Navy Blue spent three weeks grounded, wing bound and trembling, before flying again.

The medal came March 1945 — the wing never healed straight.