Summary: | Sgt Edwin Schmidt was born September 16, 1917 in Woodstock, Illinois. When he was seven years old, the neighbor down the street asked him to help care for his pigeons. It began a lifelong interest in raising, training, and caring for homing pigeons. He joined the United States Army in 1942 and was assigned to the 279th Signal Pigeon Corp. His unit was based in Hawaii and their responsibility was to train pigeons, which were deployed in the Pacific to transport messages. Each bird was armed with a red capsule attached to its leg and transported various messages into combat zones. When the war concluded he returned to Elgin, Illinois where he continued to raise and breed pigeons.
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