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A review by alundeberg
Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey by Kathleen Rooney
5.0
Random fact: several years ago a friend and I decided to embark on a year-long quest to read about WWI. In all of my reading about the war I had never heard of the story of the heroic homing pigeon who saved the Lost Battalion, an American regiment who got trapped in the Meuse-Argonne forest in France. Author Kathleen Rooney brings this little-known and remarkable true story to life in "Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey". Narrated by Cher Ami from her exhibit in the Smithsonian one-hundred years after the war and by Major Whittlesey on the last day of his life, the two reflect on the events that led them both to days of terror on the French battlefield where their biggest enemy was not the Germans but friendly fire. This novel is a reflection on what it means to serve, the sacrifices of war, and being a hero. But it is not the chest-beating nationalism backed by Sousa marches and chants of "USA! USA!". Rooney looks past the headlines and newsreels to examine how the war impacted the everyday men and animals who served in it and how their experiences do not reflect what is splashed across the front page.
Deeply imaginative, Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey's experiences mirror each other's. Cher Ami is a female pigeon who was misidentified as a cock and spent her life being called a "he". Charles Whittlesey is a sensitive, educated, and erudite closeted gay man who becomes a beloved leader among his troops. Both become national heroes for their actions in the Lost Battalion. Both find that being a hero back home is in some cases more challenging than fighting the war; the military has already put its spin on the events, hiding the reality of what really happened on the field. Whittlesey cannot speak to anyone openly and honestly about what happened because no one wants to hear that story and they are more interested in him as hero, not as guilt-ridden man dealing with tremendous loss. No one wants to hear about friendly-fire or how those running the war did so in comfort far from the front lines as they heedlessly sent millions of men to the charnel fields to meet their death. Cher Ami, from her perch at the Smithsonian over the years, recounts how the lessons of WWI and the Lost Battalion have fallen from collective memory, first overshadowed by WWII, and then the long swath of time since then.
This is a beautifully written book that honors our unsung heroes and examines the reality of war and postwar life. Highly recommend.
Deeply imaginative, Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey's experiences mirror each other's. Cher Ami is a female pigeon who was misidentified as a cock and spent her life being called a "he". Charles Whittlesey is a sensitive, educated, and erudite closeted gay man who becomes a beloved leader among his troops. Both become national heroes for their actions in the Lost Battalion. Both find that being a hero back home is in some cases more challenging than fighting the war; the military has already put its spin on the events, hiding the reality of what really happened on the field. Whittlesey cannot speak to anyone openly and honestly about what happened because no one wants to hear that story and they are more interested in him as hero, not as guilt-ridden man dealing with tremendous loss. No one wants to hear about friendly-fire or how those running the war did so in comfort far from the front lines as they heedlessly sent millions of men to the charnel fields to meet their death. Cher Ami, from her perch at the Smithsonian over the years, recounts how the lessons of WWI and the Lost Battalion have fallen from collective memory, first overshadowed by WWII, and then the long swath of time since then.
This is a beautifully written book that honors our unsung heroes and examines the reality of war and postwar life. Highly recommend.