"Judy, a purebred liver-and-white English Pointer, became the only animal officially recognized as a prisoner of war during World War II. Her story began in 1936 when she was adopted as a ship mascot by the crew of the HMS Gnat, a British gunboat stationed on the Yangtze River in China. Judy quickly became beloved for alerting the crew to danger, especially during encounters with Japanese forces. In 1942, after her ship was sunk, Judy and her crew were captured by Japanese forces and sent to a brutal prisoner of war camp in Sumatra. There, she saved lives by distracting guards and finding water for her fellow prisoners. Frank Williams, a POW who cared for her, registered Judy as a prisoner of war to protect her from e*******n. After the war, she was awarded the Dickin Medal, the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross, and lived happily with Williams, cementing her legacy as a true war hero."