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Inside This Issue
Why Do We Detassel Corn?
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PRIMARY
Exercise Your Way to a Clean Home
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PMS4655
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50% BLACK
Top Tips for Training Your Dog
Easy Frozen Dog Treats
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SECONDARY
Meet Linda and Dane
PMS292 Private Wojtek, Heroic Brown Bear of WWII PMS5635 PMS1215
PMS258
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Private Wojtek, Heroic Brown Bear of WWII
Many brave soldiers answered the call to bear arms duringWWII, but one Polish artillery supply company took things a step further and armed a bear. That’s right — among the countless animal heroes ofWWII was a full-grown brown bear from the mountains of Northern Iran namedWojtek. Wojtek first joined the Polish soldiers as a cub. A young Iranian boy found him after a hunter most likely shot his mother. Then, when a group of Polish prisoners of war, recently released from Soviet gulags to join the Allied forces, passed through the town where the boy and the bear cub lived, they traded some of their rations for the cub and took himwith them. The soldiers loved the cub and named himWojtek, whichmeans“happy warrior” in Polish. They nursed himwith condensedmilk from a vodka bottle and fed him some of their limited rations. Over time, the bear grew to be 6 feet tall and over 400 pounds, but because he had grown up around humans, he was a gentle giant. He learned several mannerisms fromhis human friends and even took a liking to beer and cigarettes. For the many soldiers who had lost or were separated from their families, Wojtek was a welcome boost tomorale. When the soldiers reached the coast of Egypt, where they were to embark by boat to Italy, British soldiers wouldn’t letWojtek on board because he wasn’t a soldier. So naturally, the Polish soldiers gaveWojtek a service number, and he officially became a private in their company, complete with a rank and a paybook.
PrivateWojtek’s moment of fame came when his company fought in the Battle of Monte Cassino. The bear saw his human counterparts carrying crates of artillery shells, and he beganmirroring their actions. Throughout the entire battle, he calmly carried crates of
ammo, which would have required four men to lift, to his comrades. In honor ofWojtek’s service during the battle, the company changed its emblem to an image of a bear carrying an artillery shell, andWojtek was promoted to the rank of corporal.
After the war, Wojtek was moved to a zoo in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he lived until he was 21 years old. There is now a bronze statue ofWojtek in Edinburgh’sWest Princes Street Gardens, ensuring that this brave bear will not be forgotten.
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