Happy Memorial Day!

Nearby Harrisburg, close to Gettysburg is a monument. What a tremendous soldier, her name was Sallie. Long before females were ever allowed into the armed forces, Sallie was on the battlefield.

It was the 1st month of the Civil War, and the newly formed 11th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment drilled on the fairgrounds. A civilian presented a wicker basket to the captain of this regiment. Within the basket was a four-week old, pug-nosed, black female terrier. The regiment named her after the most beautiful girl in a nearby village. They called her Sallie.

The dog discovered that she had hundreds of friends. She soon became their regiment's mascot.

She learned the drum roll that announced reveille. At roll call, she was always the first on the parade ground. In marching drills, she would find one of the soldiers and march along side. During dress parades, she located the regimental colors and marched beneath them. While in camp, she slept by the captain's tent.

When the fighting started, she stayed with the colors until one of the regiment's men was wounded. She would then race to his side and remain there until the medics took the wounded man away. She fought in some of the greatest battles of the Civil War: Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville.

In the Spring of 1863, Sallie's regiment marched in a parade. Sallie marched along in her usual place beneath the colors. A tall fellow in a dark suit and a stovepipe hat saluted the regiment. Then, the President raise his hat to Sallie.

Sallie's life during the war was more than parades. She was wounded in one battle and received her personal red badge of courage. At Gettysburg, however, she excelled. On that fateful day in July 1863, Sallie's regiment fought atop Oak Ridge. When the firing started, Sallie barked loudly at the enemy. Many of her friends were killed at Gettysburg. After the battle was over, days later they found Sallie still watching over her wounded and dead comrades. She was hungry and thirsty, but faithful to the end.

Now you know why she has her own monument at Gettysburg. In fact, when the monument was in a state of disrepair, a painting of Sallie along with her story sold enough copies to repair her regiment's monument.

Today, Memorial Day we stop to think of all those who fought and those who gave their lives for our freedom but let's don't forget Sallie.