Togo

what makes a hero? Intelligence, strength, power and well in this case, courage. In 1925 a severe case of diphtheria was discovered by Alaskan doctors. The worst part was that all machines meant for delivering serum, the only cure, were shut down including trains and aircraft due to the harsh weather conditions.  As you may well know the most popular hero in this case is Balto.          

Due to the deadly disease many lives were threatened if not already lost. Since lives were in their hands, the government decided to send various dogsled teams. You probably know or thought that "Balto is the hero," but in time it turned out that Balto just took the lion's share of attention. The real hero was actually a dog named Togo who got named from Heihachir Togo and was born in 1929.

Like I said Togo is the real hero and this is why. The sled dog that did most of the work was Togo. Balto only did a 55 mile stretch at the end of trail and received most of the attention. Meanwhile Togo did a 200 mile stretch and was practically completely ignored. Also he had the ability to save his owner from the extremely freezing, running water below the thin layer of ice, when his owner fell in.  Just for that I think he has showed enough courage to earn his part in history. His body is also stuffed and mounted at the Iditarod trail headquarters along with Balto though he died in Poland Springs, Maine.

Even through all the courageous acts Togo has been through, many still can't see the hero he truly is.  Even though many can't see that he's a hero, Togo will always be a hero to me.