In early 1944, a tiny Yorkshire terrier, weighing less than 4 pounds and no taller than a GI's boot, was found by a US soldier in an abandoned foxhole in the tropical jungles on the battle-scarred island of New Guinea. Thought to have been abandoned by the Japanese, the GIs soon realized that she could understand neither Japanese or English.
The GI who found her sold her to Army Corporal Bill Wynne,from Cleveland Ohio, for £2 Australian, and for the rest of the war, she slept in Cpl Wynne's tent, rode tucked in his backpack, and romped across sharp coral without injury. "Smoky served in the South Pacific with the 5th Air Force, 26th Photo Recon Squadron and flew 12 air/sea rescue and photo reconnaissance missions," says Wynne. Smoky was credited with twelve combat missions and awarded eight battle stars. She survived over 150 Japanese air raids on the island and a typhoon on Okinawa. She even made one parachute jump, from a 30 foot tree, using a chute made just for her. She actually helped in the construction of a crucial airbase on Luzon, where she ran a telegraph wire, tied to her collar, 70' through a sandy 8" culvert under a runway, saving three days of work by 150 men, in a location constantly subject to enemy attack.
In their downtime, Cpl Bill taught Smoky to do many tricks, and she entertained wounded troops in hospitals from Australia to Korea, and in 1944, the US Army's "Yank Down Under" magazine named her their Champion Mascot in the Pacific.
When WWII ended, Smoky made the long sea voyage back Stateside hidden in a modified oxygen mask case, and Cpl Bill brought her home to live with him and his family in Ohio. When they arrived in Cleveland, the local newspaper featured them in a page one story complete with photos, and Smoky quickly became a national sensation. Over the next decade, Smoky and Bill traveled to Hollywood and all over the world demonstrating her remarkable skills, which by then included over 200 tricks. Back home, she became a star on some of Cleveland's earliest television shows on all three of the city's TV stations. For a time, she even had a show of her own. It's said she performed live in 42 shows without ever repeating a trick. Smoky also traveled around the US, entertaining at veterans hospitals from coast to coast. It's thought that she was seen by millions of people in the late 40s and early 50s.
Smoky is considered the first therapy dog. Her service in this arena began in July 1944 on New Guinea, where Dr Charles Mayo, of the famed Mayo Clinic, was the commanding officer who allowed Smoky to go on rounds in the field hospitals with the nurses. She continued to serve in this role during and after the war for another 12 years.
Smoky died suddenly in February 1957, at approximately 14 years of age. Bill and his family buried Smoky in a US Army .30 Caliber ammunition box in the Cleveland Metroparks in Lakewood, Ohio.
Nearly 50 years later, on Veterans Day 2005, a life sized bronze sculpture of Smoky was unveiled at the site. She's depicted sitting in a GI helmet, upon a base of polished blue granite. The dedication reads, “Smoky, the Yorkie Doodle Dandy, and the Dogs of All Wars."
I made a visit to Smoky this morning, the day after Veterans Day, and there were several wreaths and little US flags at the site.
