Art Show at Sugar Maples

By Michael Ryan

MAPLECREST - It is a simple drawing titled “Cher Ami,” the French phrase for “dear friend,” perhaps a strange way to refer to a bird.

Cher Ami was one of several works displayed during the recent Student Exhibition at the Sugar Maples Center for Creative Arts.

The show, held annually at their little gallery in the hamlet of Maplecrest, featured various venues including the ink drawing by Christine Silver.

There were ceramics, such as “Mother and Child” from local artisan Tess Charbonneau and an acrylic on canvas, “Frank,” by Jonathan Licurse, depicting Old Blue Eyes himself.

Joann Roman, who lives between Maplecrest and the town of Prattsville, brought a collection of ceramics including “Elongated Self Image” and clever “Feminine Wiles.”

Silver started her human journey in Switzerland, shifting to Los Angeles and then the village of Rensselearville in nearby Albany County before learning of the classes hosted by the Center.

She was there with her daughter Sarah, a budding singer/songwriter, and her lone drawing of Cher Ami which was emotionally not for sale.

No price can be correctly put upon the homing pigeon who, in the years following World War I, was as well known as any war hero.

Wikipedia tells the story, stating, “Cher Ami was a male homing pigeon who had been donated by the pigeon fanciers of Britain for use by the U.S. Army Signal Corps in France during World War I.”

The tiny flyer “had been trained by American pigeoners. He is famous for delivering a message from an encircled battalion despite serious injuries during the Meuse-Argonne offensive in October 1918,” Wikipedia states.

“On October 3, 1918, Major Charles White Whittlesey and more than 550 men were trapped in a small depression on the side of the hill behind enemy lines without food or ammunition.

“They were also beginning to receive friendly fire from allied troops who did not know their location. Surrounded by the Germans, many were killed and wounded and only 194 men were still alive and not captured or wounded by the end of the engagement.

“Because his runners were consistently intercepted or killed by the Germans, Whittlesey began dispatching messages by pigeon.

“The pigeon carrying the first message, "Many wounded. We cannot evacuate." was shot down.

“A second bird was sent with the message, "Men are suffering. Can support be sent?" That pigeon also was shot down.

“The artillery batteries supporting Whittlesey's men attempted to provide a "barrage of protection" for Whittlesey's men on the northern slope of the Charlevaux Ravine.

“But, [they] believed Whittlesey was on the southern slope of the ravine, resulting in a barrage inadvertently targeting the battalion.

"Cher Ami" was dispatched with a note, written on onion paper, in a canister on his right leg, “our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us. For heavens sake stop it.”

“As Cher Ami tried to fly back home, the Germans saw him rising out of the brush and opened fire. After several seconds, he was shot down but managed to take flight again.

“He arrived back at his loft at division headquarters 25 miles to the rear in just 25 minutes, helping to save the lives of the 194 survivors.

“He had been shot through the breast, blinded in one eye, and had a leg hanging only by a tendon,” Wikipedia states.

Cher Ami was awarded the Croix de Guerre Medal with a palm Oak Leaf Cluster for his heroic service in delivering 12 important messages in Verdun.

He died at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, in June 1919, from the wounds he received in battle and was later inducted into the Racing Pigeon Hall of Fame.

In November 2019, he became one of the first recipients of the Animals in War & Peace Medal of Bravery, bestowed on him posthumously at a ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.