Introduction: In this article, Katie Rebecca Merkley tells the remarkable story of Sergeant Stubby, a highly decorated American military dog in WWI. Katie specializes in U.S. research for family history, enjoys writing and researching, and is developing curricula for teaching children genealogy. She has a website: krgarnergenealogy.com

Dogs helped in the military in WWI and WWII. They can smell and hear things humans cannot, so they were trained to assist in various ways. The most famous military dog, Sergeant Stubby, served in WWI and began as a stray.

A stray bull terrier wandered into a military training camp in New Haven, Connecticut. Private J. Robert Conroy found him and named him Stubby. (1) Conroy was a member of the U.S. Army’s 102nd Infantry and the 26th Yankee Division. (2) Even though pets were forbidden, Stubby was allowed to stay. He learned the bugle calls, drills, and how to salute by raising his paw to his eyebrow. (3)

When the division shipped out to France, Conroy helped Stubby stow away on the ship by hiding him in the coal bin. Stubby was let out when the boat was far enough at sea, and he won over the sailors. He was smuggled off the ship when they landed in France. Stubby saluted the commanding officer who discovered him, winning him over, and he allowed Stubby to stay. (4)

The 102nd Infantry reached the front lines on 5 February 1918. Stubby was given special orders to accompany them as their mascot. He became accustomed to gunfire and learned to differentiate friend from foe. (5)

Like many other soldiers in battle, Stubby received some injuries. The first was from inhaling mustard gas. He was treated at a nearby field hospital. This made him sensitive to the tiniest traces of mustard gas. When enemies launched an early morning gas attack, Stubby ran through the trenches, barking and biting soldiers to wake them, saving them from injury or possibly even death. (6)

Another injury for Stubby came from taking shrapnel to the chest and legs in a grenade attack. Conroy took him to a field hospital where he received surgery. (7) Stubby was sent to a Red Cross recovery hospital, where he boosted the morale of injured soldiers by visiting them. (8)

Stubby had a talent for locating injured soldiers between the trenches. He would either go to the soldier and bark until the medics came, lead the soldier back to the trenches, or stay with the soldier until he died. (9)

Stubby once caught a German spy mapping out the Allied trenches. He harassed and bit the spy until he was captured. For this, Stubby was promoted to the honorary rank of sergeant and became known as Sergeant Stubby. He was the first dog to receive a rank in the U.S. Army. (10)

After the war, Sergeant Stubby received a hero’s welcome, marching in parades, meeting presidents in the White House, and receiving medals. He stayed with Conroy, who went to law school. (11)

Sergeant Stubby died of old age in Conroy’s arms in 1926. Like any hero’s death, this was covered in the newspapers. He was taxidermied and placed in the Smithsonian, along with all his war decorations.

This newspaper described Sergeant Stubby as the “world’s most decorated dog hero.”

Another newspaper said that Stubby saved many lives on the battlefront by bringing rescuers to wounded soldiers. The purpose of displaying Stubby with his decorations at the Smithsonian was “so that future generations of Americans may not forget this outstanding hero of the World War.”

In 2006, a brick in honor of Sergeant Stubby was placed in the Walk of Honor at the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri.

Did your ancestor serve in a war? Were they heroic like Sergeant Stubby? You may find the answers in newspapers – search now and see if you can discover their stories!

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Note on the header image: Sergeant Stubby wearing military uniform and decorations, c. 1920. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

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(1) ConnecticutHistory.org, “A True Dog of War: Sergeant Stubby,” ConnecticutHistory.org, Connecticut Humanities, November 12, 2021, accessed January 15, 2026, https://connecticuthistory.org/a-true-dog-of-war-sergeant-stubby/.
(2) FamilySearch Blog; “Sergeant Stubby: Famous World War I Military Dog,” blog post by Junny Jane Morton, https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/sergeant-stubby-famous-world-war-military-dog, 24 Apr. 2018.
(3) Smithsonian Institution, “Stubby,” Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History, accessed January 15, 2026, https://www.si.edu/object/nmah_439710.
(4) Ibid.
(5) Ibid.
(6) Ibid.
(7) FamilySearch Blog; “Sergeant Stubby: Famous World War I Military Dog,” blog post by Junny Jane Morton, https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/sergeant-stubby-famous-world-war-military-dog, 24 Apr. 2018, and; Smithsonian Institution, “Stubby,” Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History, accessed January 15, 2026, https://www.si.edu/object/nmah_439710.
(8) ConnecticutHistory.org, “A True Dog of War: Sergeant Stubby,” ConnecticutHistory.org, Connecticut Humanities, November 12, 2021, accessed January 15, 2026, https://connecticuthistory.org/a-true-dog-of-war-sergeant-stubby/.
(9) FamilySearch Blog; “Sergeant Stubby: Famous World War I Military Dog,” blog post by Junny Jane Morton, https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/sergeant-stubby-famous-world-war-military-dog, 24 Apr. 2018, and; Smithsonian Institution, “Stubby,” Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History, accessed January 15, 2026, https://www.si.edu/object/nmah_439710.
(10) FamilySearch Blog; “Sergeant Stubby: Famous World War I Military Dog,” blog post by Junny Jane Morton, https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/sergeant-stubby-famous-world-war-military-dog, 24 Apr. 2018, and; ConnecticutHistory.org, “A True Dog of War: Sergeant Stubby,” ConnecticutHistory.org, Connecticut Humanities, November 12, 2021, accessed January 15, 2026, https://connecticuthistory.org/a-true-dog-of-war-sergeant-stubby/.
(11) FamilySearch Blog; “Sergeant Stubby: Famous World War I Military Dog,” blog post by Junny Jane Morton, https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/sergeant-stubby-famous-world-war-military-dog, 24 Apr. 2018.