Sailor Star Dust wrote:I love how my parent's homeland had a freakin' BEAR in the army. It's my uncle's (mom's brother) name too (pronounced "Voy-tech"). Story about the bear Wojtek here.
The bear was subsequently fed with fruit, marmalade, honey and syrup, and was often rewarded with beer, which became his favourite drink. He also enjoyed smoking and eating cigarettes.
He was a European bear, at heart.
My paternal great-grandfather served on a British ship during WWII. He liked to tell about how the cat on the ship was promoted to being a proper sailor and would, as best a cat can, stand at attention.