No Better Friend: One Man, One Dog, and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage and Survival in WWII, Paperback

A canine version of Unbroken.--Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air with Terry Gross

NO BETTER FRIEND tells the story of Air Force technician Frank Williams and Judy, a purebred pointer, who met in WWII and were POWs in a camp in the Pacific. Judy was loyal, with a keen sense for who was friend and who was foe, and the pair's relationship deepened throughout their captivity. When the prisoners suffered beatings, Judy would interrupt by barking. She survived bombings and other near-death experiences and became a beacon for the men, who saw in her survival a flicker of hope for their own.

Judy was WWII's only canine POW, and when she passed away in 1950, she was buried in her Air Force jacket. Williams would never own another dog. Their story--of an unbreakable bond forged in the worst circumstance--is one of the great undiscovered sagas of WWII.