Thread by @pptsapper

in THIS house we celebrate Armistice Day - "a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace" - and what could be more peaceful than the animals that Doughboys befriended, rescued, or otherwise glommed on to during WWI because, well, animals are just terrific

Thread incoming

Hi Mutt! Mutt's a YMCA cigarette delivery dog because hey, what's good when you've just survived a gas attack? Giving those scarred lungs a smoke delivered by a delightful French bulldog who only desires head scritches in payment

Aaaaaaand there goes Mutt, off with another delivery. What a little master of logistics, 12/10, would get on that LOGPAC

What's the point of driving coffee and doughnuts to the front lines if you don't have an assistant driver who has deployable alert ears to keep you safe?

"dude this thing sucks, there's no food in here"

please ensure the fit of your own mask is correct before placing a mask on others unless that happens to be your best equine buddy and then yeah, get that mask on them as quickly as possible

No matter your size, it's good to have a friend

French war orphan and his pup, adopted by the 26th "Yankee" Division during the war, paying for him to attend school with room and board. You can see the division's distinctive YD patch on the pup's coat

When arriving in France as part of the American Expeditionary Force, it's good to have extra supplies of Dog, Adorable, 1 each in your backpack

Even flying aces need some company. Red Baron, beware! America's smallest ace is comin for you

Just as soon as dinner is over. And maybe a second dinner. And also another snack

When it's dinner time, it's dinner time for EVERYONE. Gotta get them noms

Also, check out that saucy wink from that Sammy. What a killah

gooooooooooat

Yes, soldiers had goats as unit mascots. Many units. Bizarrely.

tfw you introduce jazz to Europe and even the animals dig it. You know your music is straight FIRE when the local geese organize and begin to parade

Even heroic fighter pilot dogs don't like posing for the camera when there are dogfights to be had. Or snacks to be eaten

red cross nurses always save a snack for local hero pups with the zoomies

During the war, US aid organizations helped organize the feeding, clothing, housing, and education of thousands of French orphans

And their frens

henlo, smol dog is very fierce and will keep everyone safe and will bite that kaiser to make the world safe for democracy

Love that the soldier here can't keep a straight face

Getting adopted by the infantry means a lifetime of ear rubs and all the frens any dog could ever ask for.

the 3,800 men of the regiment are a lot to take care of, but this pup looks up to the task

If you can't find a dog or a cat, might as well make friends with whatever you can. Like a baby boar

Pilots, of course, gotta do their own thing

like go to paris, get drunk, buy a lion

decide one lion isn't enough, buy another

name them whiskey and soda

play with lions during downtime

you know

just pilot stuff

Doughboys were out to make friends wherever they went. Even birbs

Like with this crow

Thanks to the @TheWWImuseum for creating these gifs out of the thousands and thousands of hours of footage compiled by the Army Signal Corps during WWI

Here's to the young men & women of the WWI generations - and to their animal friends. They shall not grow old.