How West Point chose a mule as its mascot

Nice history share.

My wife, an absolute animal lover, found out last night how many horses and mules died in WW1. She was pissed and asked me why. I told her they were what moved armies at the time. While she understood, she was still upset.

When I first joined the Army as a Nurse I was assigned to a Medical Surgical ward at Fort Carson. We had retires from before WWII as patients. They told me a lot about the old army. Many had been stationed at Fort Carson and ran pack mules in the mountains. Great stories. The barracks Sargent got his stripes by being the toughest guy in the barracks. Every new comer got called out. The mules had an ID number tattooed on the inside of their lip and a medical record. The mules got better care than the soldiers. If a mule got loose on a training exercise and got back to the barracks first the fellow in charge of the mule was in for a world of grief. Yes, the mules knew how to get home to the barracks and seldom got lost. The stalls for the mules were on the first floor of the barracks the soldiers bunked on the second floor. One patient told me about two Sargents standing on the barracks balcony watching a mule running into camp from one direction while his assigned soldier was running in trying to cut the mule off running towards the barracks from another direction. They were beating on who was going to win the race.

Mules have a long history with the Army as a pack animal for supplies

For centuries, armies had used mules as the engine of land operations, hauling guns, ammunition and supplies across the globe. The first U.S. Military Academy at West Point mule mascot, however, pulled an ice wagon before being enlisted to rally the Corps of Cadets as they cheered on their team, according to the West Point Association of Graduates website.