(Maria Kiehl/Stars and Stripes)

Frankfurt, Germany, August 1954: Sgt. Roy Innes of Washington, D.C., leads Pvt. Allen T. Geronimo, an 11-week-old buffalo, past an honor guard and band at the Rhein-Main airport. Geronimo was flown in from a game preserve near Allentown, Pa. (thus the name Allen T.), to serve as the mascot of the 510th Heavy Tank Battalion. The commander of the Mannheim-based unit, Lt. Col. Jesse L. Walters, was on hand at the airport for an induction ceremony, and produced a set of identification tags for the new recruit bearing serial number RA 12345678, a record of vaccination shots, and the letter Y, denoting no religious preference.

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