Sammy the Army Cat

This is a picture of Sammy a Siamese who was our pet cat when we lived in Japan. Jimmy used to call him "Sammy the Army Cat" and drag him around the house by the tail. Sammy was also used by Jimmy as a pillow, a cushion and kid-handled in most every way possible. Although Dad was in the Air Force, Jimmy had Army everything, including Sammy who became an Army cat.

I don't remember how we acquired Sammy. I only remember he was with us in the first months after we moved into our home offbase in 1961. When let outside to do his duty, he apparently thought he was the toughest cat in the country and always seemed to have the misfortune of getting into some kind of tomcat fight. We lived next door to a rice paddy which would be flooded from time to time and he would sit out in there crying and wailing for someone to come help him. On more than several occasions, Mom would get up in the middle of the night, go into the rice paddy and rescue him. He would usually have some type of wound and had several scars to show for it. Unfortunately, no one seems to remember what happened to Sammy. Did he go off and fight one fight too many?