Richard Topus (15 March 1924â5 December 2008) was an American pigeon enthusiast and business executive. During World War II he trained war pigeons for the United States Army.
Topus was born in Brooklyn, New York on March 15, 1924. He grew up in Flatbush where he fell in love with pigeons at an early age and befriended several local pigeon handlers who taught him to handle the birds. In 1942 he enlisted in the United States Army Signal Corps as a pigeoneer. He was stationed at Camp Ritchie in Maryland – one of several camps where birds were raised and trained for use as messengers. He taught other soldiers how to train and care for carrier pigeons, how to fasten on the tiny capsules containing messages written on lightweight paper, to drop pigeons from airplanes; and to jump out of airplanes themselves, with pigeons tucked against their chests.
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