During World War Il, the Polish army had a soldier that absolutely terrified the enemy... mostly because he was a 500-pound Svrian brown bear. Meet Woitek In 1942, a group of Polish soldiers found him as an orphaned cub in Iran. Thev took him in, but because he was raised entirelv by stressed-out, battle-hardened men, he picked up some extremely bizarre habits Woitek's absolute favorite drink was beer, which he would happily chug straight from the bottle. He also loved ciaarettes. The soldiers would give him a lit cigarette, he would take one puff, and then he would just completely swallow it He wrestled with the men, slept in their tents, and became their best friend. But eventually, the unit was ordered to sail to eventually, the unit was ordered to sail to Italy to fight the Nazis alongside the British. There was iust one massive problem. The British transport ships had a strict "No Pets Allowed" rule So, the Polish army found an incredible oophole. Thev officially drafted the bear. They gave Wojtek the rank of Private, his own serial number, and an official military paybook. Since he was a legal soldier, the British had absolutely no choice but to let him board the ship. But Wojtek wasn't just a mascot. He actually went into combat. During the brutal Battle of Monte Cassino the Polish artillery unit was under heavy fire and struggling to move massive, 100-pound crates of live artillerv shells Woitek watched his buddies struggling. walked over on his hind leas, held out his massive paws, and let them load the crates into his arms. He casually carried the heavy explosives to the front lines under active enemy fire, never dropping a single shell He became such a legend that the 22nd Artillery Supply Company officially changed their military emblem to a bear carrying an artillery shell, Woitek survived the war, was officially promoted to Corporal, and lived out his retirement as a decorated war hero in a zoo