Leaping Lena

This article is about the pigeon. For the train, see North Australia Railway § Commonwealth takeover. For the Vietnam War operation, see Project DELTA § History.
Leaping Lena
Leaping Lena arriving in New York
SpeciesColumba livia
BreedRacing pigeon
Sexfemale
Nation fromWest Germany
OccupationRacing pigeon / Cold War hero
EmployerRadio Free Europe
Notable rolemascot
Years active1954–1955
Known forbearing an anti-communist message
http://www.rferl.org/content/off_mic_pigeon_who_crashed_iron_curtain/1859287.html

Leaping Lena was a West German racing pigeon who got lost in Czechoslovakia during a routine 1954 flight. When she returned home two days later, there was a message addressed to Radio Free Europe attached to one of her legs. It read:[1]

We plead with you not to slow down in the fight against communism because communism must be destroyed. We beg for a speedy liberation from the power of the Kremlin and the establishment of a United States of Europe.
We listen to your broadcasts. They present a completely true picture of life behind the Iron Curtain. We would like you to tell us how we can combat bolshevism and the tyrannical dictatorship existing here.
We are taking every opportunity to work against the regime and do everything in our power to sabotage it.

It was signed "Unbowed Pilsen."

Leaping Lena was brought to the United States in August 1954,[2] quarantined for 3 weeks,[3] and then was used to raise money for Radio Free Europe as part of a publicity campaign for the Crusade for Freedom, a front organization used by the CIA.[4]

Leaping Lena was then kept at Fort Monmouth's Pigeon Breeding and Training Center. When the Center was deactivated in 1957, fifteen hero pigeons were donated to zoos, while about a thousand others were sold to the public.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Coos and Kudos to Greet 'Anti-Red' Pigeon Who Flew Message Through Iron Curtain". The New York Times. 1 August 1954. p. 32.
  2. ^ "Iron Curtain Bird Here on Crusade". The New York Times. 2 August 1954. p. 10.
  3. ^ "Heroine Pigeon Now a 'Citizen'". The New York Times. 23 August 1954. p. 19.
  4. ^ Cummings. Radio Free Europe's "Crusade for Freedom". pp. 116–117.
  5. ^ A History of Army Communications and Electronics at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, 1917–2007. Government Printing Office. 2008. p. 26. ISBN 9780160869105. Lena's fate is not stated.

Further reading

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