Thread by @KeyBarrettMSc, By now, a lot of us have seen the meme about carrying [...]

By now, a lot of us have seen the meme about carrying a jackass on their backs in times of crisis. That is, find the jackass in your life and carry them. It& #39;s a good message, but a negative one. I& #39;d like to offer a more positive one: find the bear. 1/

https://i.redd.it/wx0optqzznq41.jpg">https://i.redd.it/wx0optqzz...

We all know bears in our lives: difficult, distant, taciturn. They can be a lot of work. And when everything is great, it can be too much. And in times of crisis, we tend to forget them in their woods, because, let& #39;s face it, we have jackasses to carry, but that& #39;s a mistake. 2/

To prove this, I want to tell you the story of Wojtek the bear. This isn& #39;t an apocryphal tale, or myth. This is a true story of a bear in a great time of crisis. This is a story with a happy ending, too, so strap in. 3/

In 1940, what remained of the defeated Polish army reformed in the Soviet Union. There& #39;s a lot of geopolitical wrangling here, but what matters is that after two years, they moved to Iran, and fell under the command of the British.
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While in Iran, the Polish army fund a bear cub a Kurdish boy had rescued after the bear& #39;s mother had been killed. It spent three months in a Polish refugee camp before being & #39;donated& #39; to the reformed Polish army. Can you imagine? Poor bear. 5/

The soldiers named him & #39;Wojtek& #39; (diminutive for & #39;Happy warrior& #39;) and fed him condensed milk until he was strong enough to salute, drink beer (natch!) and wrestle. The Brits didn& #39;t really like this. They wanted the Polish soldiers to get rid of it. 6/
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Wojtek_the_bear.jpg">https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia...

While in North Africa the bear terrorized a spy so much he surrendered. After that he was one of the men. He was ENLISTED as a PRIVATE in the Polish army ad shipped out with them to fight in Italy! 7/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/NINTCHDBPICT000436469575.jpg">https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-conten...

There, at the battle of Monte Cassino, he hauled 100 pound crates of ammunition up and down the trenches during the fierce fighting.
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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Ammunition_box_25_Pounder_Grenades%2C_4_shells.JPG">https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia...

Wojtek survived the battle and the war. After the war, the bear soldier was stationed in Scotland with the soldiers, where he was very popular with the locals. Afterward, he & #39;retired& #39; to the Edinburgh zoo. 9/

Former soldiers who served with him would come and visit, and spend time with him. He was even featured on Blue Peter (a kids show). He grew to 6 feet tall! He lived to be 21 and died in 1963. 10/
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Wojtek_%28bear%29_statue_in_Princes_Street_Gardens.jpg">https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia...

What& #39;s the point? We all know to look for the jackasses now, that& #39;s important. But when this is done, they& #39;re still asses.
Look for the bears. B/c they can carry a load we can& #39;t now, and when this crisis is over, they will be friends we keep for life. /END https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/images-e.jpimedia.uk/imagefetch/http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/webimage/Prestige.Item.1.69287031!image/image.jpg?width=640">https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/images-e....

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