On October 18, 1943, British troops of the 56th Infantry Division captured the Italian village of Calvi Vecchia, but their radio equipment had been damaged, leaving them unable to communicate with headquarters. An American air strike on the village was scheduled for that very day.

GI Joe, a carrier pigeon attached to the British forces, was released with an urgent message and flew 20 miles in 20 minutes, arriving at the U.S. Air Support Command base just as the bombers were warming up on the runway. The air strike was cancelled with barely minutes to spare, saving an estimated 1,000 British soldiers and Italian civilians who would have been in the target zone.

GI Joe was awarded the Dickin Medal—the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross—in 1946, becoming one of only three American animals to receive the honor during the war. He lived until 1961 at the U.S. Army's Fort Monmouth pigeon breeding center in New Jersey, a celebrity among military pigeon handlers.