Chico, a twelve-year-old Italian boy; Sergeant Missouri, a warm-hearted, courageous soldier in the United States Army Remount Service; and one loyal, sturdy but lame-legged little donkey—these three characters lead the cast in an exciting and highly original story of wartime adventure, set in the rugged mountains of southern Italy.

This is a wartime but not a warlike story.  It is a tale of loyalty and heroism and affection.  Chico knows every inch of the the steep mountain trails where the Remount soldiers are training burros and mules to carry medicine and other supplies silently and safely.  He uses these paths to bring the simple gifts of food, spared by the impoverished people of his home village, to the three elderly friars left in the bomb-shattered Abbey, high on a peak. So it is Chico only who is able to rescue his good friend, Sergeant Missouri—with the help, of course, of another good friend, Sergeant Donkey.

The Small War of Sergeant Donkey is a tale that is "almost true," since all technical information is based on records kept by the U.S. Army Remount service and the personal memories of Major John Burkholder, who served for several years with that unit in the last crucial campaigns of World War II.  fresh, tense and informative, this book will appeal to anyone who loves animals and fastmoving action.

As in The Ginger Horse, a companion book by Maureen Daly, the appealing pictures of Wesley Dennis blend perfectly with the fine text.

From the dust jacket