This section is open to all nations, so I hope it is also open to other species.
Because this is a pretty cool story.
It all started in 1943 when Polish forces were stationed in the Middle-East. Legend has it that one night from out of the Iranian mountains a small bear cub wandered down into the camp of the Polish 22nd Transport Artillery Supply Company looking for food. The Polish soldiers adopted the cub, naming him Voytek, and making him their official unit mascot.
Voytek's "recruitment" photo
As Voytek grew, and by grew he stood about six feet tall and weight somewhere between 500 and 600 pounds, he was fitted with a special harness and trained to haul heavy mortar rounds.
"He was just like a dog," recalled Polish veteran Augustyn Karolewski. "Nobody was scared of him. He was just like one of us."
Voytek was very much just like one of the men. When the unit marched out on a mission, Voytek would stand up on his hind legs and march alongside them. When the motorized convoy was on the move, Voytek sat in the passenger seat of one of the jeeps hanging his head out a window.
The bear quickly developed a taste for beer, cigarettes and was know to occasionally swat at company NCOs.
Voytek "roughing it up" with one of the sergeants
When Polish forces were deployed to Europe they refused to leave behind their trusted mascot. The only way to take the bear with them, however, was to have him "enlist". Voytek given a name, rank and number and shipped off with the rest of his unit to take part in the Italian campaign.
The bear saw action at Monte Cassino as an ammunition "mule" and remained with his unit they were demobilised, and Voytek was shipped off to the Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland.
Karolewski, who served with Voytek visited his old comrade at the zoo several times.
"He still understood Polish," Karolewski said. "And as soon as I mentioned his name he would sit on his backside and shake his head wanting a cigarette.
It wasn't easy to throw a cigarette to him - but after a few attempts he eventually got one."
Voytek - The Soldier Bear - was a major attraction at the zoo until his death in 1963.
There are currently plans to erect a memorial to Voytek in Holyrood, not far from the zoo and the former Polish Barracks.
Local campaigner Aileen Orr would like to see a lasting tribute to the bear from Iran who joined Polish forces to fight in Italy, and then retired quietly to Scotland.
She first heard about Voytek as a child from her grandfather, who served with the King's Own Scottish Borderers.
"I thought he had made it up to be quite honest but it was only when I got married and came here that I knew in fact he was here, Voytek was here," she said. "It is just amazing, the story is totally amazing."