An interesting obituary of Richard Topus, who trained pigeons for use during WWII.
A thought-provoking part: In all, more than 50,000 pigeons served the United States in the war. Many were shot down. Others were set upon by falcons released by the Nazis to intercept them. (The British countered by releasing their own falcons to pursue German messenger pigeons. But since falcons found Allied and Axis birds equally delicious, their deployment as defensive weapons was soon abandoned by both sides.) But many American pigeons did reach their destinations safely, relaying vital messages from soldiers in the field to Allied commanders. The information they carried — including reports on troop movements and tiny hand-sketched maps — has been widely credited with saving thousands of lives during the war. And to veer away from the pigeons, some interesting facts about Mr. Topus: After the war, Mr. Topus earned bachelor's and master's degrees in business from Hofstra University<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/h/hofstra_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org>. While he was a student, he earned money selling eggs — chicken eggs — door to door and afterward started a wholesale egg business. In the late 1950s, Mr. Topus became the first salesman at Friendship Food Products, a dairy company then based in Maspeth, Queens; he retired as executive vice president for sales and marketing. (The company, today based in Jericho, N.Y. and a subsidiary of Dean Foods, is now known as Friendship Dairies.) In the 1960s and early '70s, Mr. Topus taught marketing at Hofstra; the C. W. Post campus of Long Island University<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/l/long_island_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org>; and the State University of New York<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/state_university_of_new_york/index.html?inline=nyt-org>, Farmingdale, where he started a management-training program for supermarket professionals. In later years, after retiring to Scottsdale, he taught at Arizona State University<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/arizona_state_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org>and was also a securities arbitrator, hearing disputes between stockbrokers and their clients. Beth Benoit Granite State College New Hampshire -- "We will not learn how to live in peace by killing each other's children." - Jimmy Carter "Are our children more precious than theirs?" --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
