The most honest military parade of American history or maybe Statist history in general. [Deutscher Text enthalten]

I like to look into old archives to see if I can find stories that are interesting to me. In this case I found something in a German newspaper from 1931. The story took place in the US but I can't find any American source although the article is mentioning a New Yorker newspaper as its source.

So what happened and why am I calling it the most honest military parade?   During an attack of the First World War a division of the 30. Infantry Regiment was trapped in a dugout and was under heavy fire. And who saved them? Well, most of them weren't saved at all but someone saved their position. A donkey called 'Arizona' brought them a machine gun with which they were able to hold the position. The donkey was wounded by a shrapnel but managed to survive the war. And he was really lucky to survive the war. 9.4 Million soldiers weren't as lucky as the donkey was. And for what were they dying? The Central Powers brought Lenin to Russia which had the unforeseen consequence of creating the Soviet Union. The Allied Powers dictated the Treaty of Versailles which had the unforeseen consequence of creating Nazi Germany. Good job governments!

Now back to the article. After Arizona survived the war he went home to San Francisco where he continued to serve in the 30. Infantry Regiment. In 1931 he became to old to be useful and he retired. The Regiment decided to perform a parade for him and to stick a medal on his cover.   The more I think about this donkey the more I realize that he is the perfect metaphor for what military service stands for. You fight for a country in a deadly war and if you are lucky to survive you get a parade and a medal. So not only are you participating in making the world a more dangerous place, you also get no benefit from risking your life. Sounds like something only a stupid donkey can be interested in. 

Für alle die Deutsch können hier ein Auszug aus dem Deutschen Artikel:

"[...]Dabei parierte das gesamte in San Francisco liegende 30. Infanterieregiment vor einem alten Maulesel. Diese absonderliche Ehrung des Tieres, das den Namen Arizona trägt, wie ein gewissenhafter Berichterstatter verzeichnet, führt sich auf das Verdienst zurück, das es sich während der Argonnenkämpfe im Weltkrieg erworben hat, als es in einer besonders schwierigen Lage ein Maschinengewehr in die vorderste Linie schleppte, dabei selbst durch einen Granatsplitter verwundet wurde, die dort kämpfende dezimierte Abteilung des genannten Regimentes aber in den Stand setzte, sich zu halten, bis Verstärkung eintraf. [...] Und nun stand der Maulesel auf dem mit Kriegstrophäen reich geschmückten Kasernenhof an der Seite des Regimmentskommandeuers und sah das Regiment in strammem Paradeschritt an sich vorüberziehen, die Offiziere mit gezogenem und gesenktem Degen und die Mannschaften mit 'Augen rechts' auf den in Ehren grau gewordenen Helden des Tages blickend.[...]"

Disclaimer: The images are public domain images that I converted into memes. The german journalist who wrote this article died during WWII so the article is also public domain by now.