Rags: The Pure-Hearted Mutt of the Great War

05/16/23 • 203 min

Dogs have been man’s best friend for millennia, so it stands to reason that man’s best friend will follow man into the depths of hell, that is, war. This wasn’t simply to rip and tear the throats of man’s enemies (though that certainly would play a part) or to serve as cannon fodder. Oftentimes, the dogs utilized in war—war dogs—would outshine their human counterparts in acts of heroism. This has been going on for thousands of years, but it became apparent just how valuable dogs were during the Great War of 1914-1918.
Among the most famous of all war dogs serving in the First World War was the Paris street orphan dog Rags, who was discovered by Private Jimmy Donovan during leave. After he brought Rags into the fold, the little mutt became the mascot of the First Division, soon learning how to retrieve messages, spot broken signal wires, literally save lives, and even saluting his fellow (human) soldiers. Rags became the most photographed dog in the world and lived until 1936, longer than most dogs even of his size. He was frequently honored by his former human comrades and even met figures like General Jack Pershing. He also was responsible for dog shows creating a new category of “Hero Dog” to allow for mutts to be entered. The only downside was he needed to be given his first and only bath.
In this installment of the Infinitesimal Impossibilities series of History Impossible, we’ll be looking at the life of Rags and where he fit into the grander events of the First World War. His epic adventures took him all over Europe and the United States where he met hundreds among the adoring public. For all who own dogs (and even those who don’t), his story will make you laugh, cry, and appreciate just how much we should value our furry friends. In the end, Rags was a war hero, an adventurer, a mangy mutt, a lovable nuisance, and in his own way a smart ass. But above all else he was a good boy.
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Previous Episode

The First Woke President

In this newest episode of History Impossible, I was joined by my friend, comrade, and frequent collaborator CJ Killmer, host of the Dangerous History Podcast, primarily to dive deep into the question of one of America's most underrated villains, President Woodrow Wilson, particularly on his track record and beliefs regarding one of the dooziest of topics: race. And to put it bluntly, Wilson, as outlined by CJ in his recent 5+ hour episode concerning this subject that's part of his larger Woodrow Wilson series, did not have a good track record when it came to race in America, particularly when it truly needed a rational and decent leader (which Wilson most certainly was not; on many things, but on this issue in particular).
We focus on a number of focal points from CJ's original episode (which I highly recommend you all listen to), particularly on Wilson's brand of progressive racism (while of course comparing and contrasting with modern day's own version of it), but we also pay our respects to a lesser-known figure of African American history, William Monroe Trotter, whose standing up to Wilson and not allowing himself to be gaslit is one of the most impressive and heroic political stories I've ever heard.
We also close out by diving deep into our own personal reservations about progressivism as a philosophy, largely (though of course not entirely) eschewing the left-right divide to really get at the core of what makes progressivism so puerile, at least in the context of American identity. This helped make this conversation, in my opinion, the most fun and interesting one CJ and I have had thus far (and that's no small feat), and listeners will finally hear me essentially admit my own political orientation, such as it is (and hopefully it'll give you a good chuckle).
History Impossible has been made possible by the following generous supporters on Patreon, Substack, and PayPal. Please consider donating today to help keep me free and this show alive:
David Adamcik
Alireza Atarian
Benjamin
Elias Borota
Johannes Breitsameter
Charles C
CJ
Cliffydeuce
CR
daddygorgon
Richard Davey
Paul DeCoster
Nathan Diehl
Bob Downing
Rob Duval
Gavin Edward
seli123ky
Feegoa
Pierre Ghazarian
Kevin Gony
Jayson Griesmeyer
Nathan Grote
Al Hall
Benjamin Hamilton
Peter Hauck
Carey Hurst
Joseph Hurst
Thomas Justesen
Mike Kalnins
Bryn Kaufman
Benjamin Lee
Maddy
Mounty of Madness
Jose Martinez
Douglas Martoccia
Mike Mayleben
Judy McCoid
Monica
Kostas Moros
Ryan Mortenson
Ben Mullen
Skip Pacheco
Molly Pan
Jeff Parrent
Jean Peters
Brian Pritzl
PJ Rader
Gleb Radutsky
Aleksandr Rakitin
Jon Andre Saether
Alison Salo
Jake Scalia
Emily Schmidt
Julian Schmidt
Andrew Seeber
Cameron Smith
Thomas Squeo
Brian Steggeman
Pier-Luc St-Pierre
Athal Krishna
Sundarrajan
Philipp Surkov
Shane Taylor
Jared Cole Temple
ChrisTX
Robert VS
Steve Uhler
Jonny Wilkie
Ricky Worthey
F. You
Gregory Zink
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Next Episode

Pandemic Addendum: Gutenberg GPT

Hello ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends! I'm here with another miniature episode for your listening pleasure, adapted from a recent essay I wrote over on the History Impossible Substack, which you can go check out if you're interested. I'm in the home stretch of recording the next big History Impossible episode, so I figured I'd give all of you a nice thanks for supporting the show this long.
In the case of this one, we're looking at some potential predictions for how the future of AI could shake out, assuming that it ends up having the level of influence as its possible historical analogue and the one I've chosen--the mass translations of the Bible in the 15th and 16th centuries. This is more of a fun tidbit--an addendum for Pandemic: A Plague Coda--for all of you patiently waiting for the next episode proper of History Impossible, which will serve as the grand return not just to WWII, not just to broad and dark historical topics that you won't believe, but to the series that started this entire crazy journey known as History Impossible.
Thank you to all of you fine listeners, and especially to you fine supporters over on Patreon and Substack.
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