01/10/2023
Smoky, a Yorkshire Terrier, was a famous war dog who served in World War II. She weighed only 4 pounds (1.8 kg) and stood 7 inches (180 mm) tall. Smoky is credited with reigniting interest in the once-obscure Yorkshire Terrier breed.
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Smoky was discovered in an abandoned foxhole in the New Guinea jungle by an American soldier in February 1944. She was already a fully grown young adult Yorkie. The soldiers initially assumed the small dog belonged to the Japanese, but after transporting her to a nearby prisoner-of-war camp, they discovered she couldn't understand commands in either Japanese or English. Smoky was then sold by another soldier to Corporal William A. Wynne of Cleveland, Ohio, for two Australian pounds the price paid to the seller so he could return to his poker game.
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Smoky backpacked through the rest of the war and accompanied Wynne on combat flights in the Pacific for the next two years. She faced adversity while living in the New Guinea jungle and Rock Islands, where she endured primitive tent conditions in equatorial heat and humidity. Smoky slept in Wynne's tent on a blanket made from a green felt card table cover for the duration of her service, sharing Wynne's C-rations and the occasional can of Spam. Unlike the "official" war dogs of WWII, Smoky had no access to veterinary medicine or a balanced diet designed specifically for dogs. Despite this, Smoky never got sick. She even ran for four months on coral without developing any of the paw problems that plagued some war dogs.
In the words of Wynne, "Smoky Served in the South Pacific with the 5th Air Force, 26th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron and flew 12 air/sea rescue and photo reconnaissance missions." On those flights, Smoky spent long hours dangling in a soldier's pack near machine guns used to repel enemy fighters. Smoky was credited with twelve combat missions and eight battle stars. She survived 150 air raids on New Guinea and an Okinawan typhoon. Smoky even parachuted from 30 feet (9.1 m) in the air out of a tree using a parachute custom-made for her. Wynne credited Smoky with saving his life by warning him of incoming shells on an LST (transport ship), referring to her as an "'angel' from a foxhole." As the ship deck shook from anti-aircraft gunnery, Smoky directed Wynne to avoid the fire that hit eight men standing nearby.
Smoky spent her spare time learning new tricks to entertain troops with Special Services and patients in hospitals from Australia to Korea. Smoky, according to Wynne, taught him as much as he taught her, and she developed a repertoire unlike any other dog of her time. In 1944, the magazine Yank Down Under named Smoky the "Champion Mascot in the Southwest Pacific Area."
Smoky's deception enabled her to become a hero in her own right by assisting engineers in the construction of an airbase at Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, a vital airfield for Allied warplanes. The Signal Corps needed to run a telegraph wire through a 70-foot-long (21-meter) pipe that was 8 inches (200 mm) in diameter early in the Luzon campaign. The soil had sifted through the corrugated sections at the pipe joinings, filling up to half of the pipe and limiting Smoky's movement to four inches in some places.
When Wynne appeared on NBC-TV after WWII, he told the story as follows:
โI tied a string (tied to the wire) to Smoky's collar and ran to the other end of the culvert . . . (Smoky) made a few steps in and then ran back. `Come, Smoky,' I said sharply, and she started through again. When she was about 10 feet in, the string caught up and she looked over her shoulder as much as to say `What's holding us up there?' The string loosened from the snag and she came on again. By now the dust was rising from the shuffle of her paws as she crawled through the dirt and mold and I could no longer see her. I called and pleaded, not knowing for certain whether she was coming or not. At last, about 20 feet away, I saw two little amber eyes and heard a faint whimpering sound . . . at 15 feet away, she broke into a run. We were so happy at Smoky's success that we patted and praised her for a full five minutes.โ
Smoky's work saved approximately 250 ground crewmen from having to move around and keep 40 United States fighters and reconnaissance planes operational while a construction detail dug up the taxiway, putting the men and the planes in danger of enemy bombing. What would have been a dangerous three-day digging task to lay the wire took only minutes.
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Wynne and Smoky were featured on the front page of the Cleveland Press on December 7, 1945, when they returned from the war. Smoky quickly rose to national prominence. Over the next ten years, Smoky and Wynne travelled to Hollywood and around the world to demonstrate her extraordinary abilities, which included walking a tightrope while blindfolded. She appeared with Wynne on some of the earliest TV shows in the Cleveland area, including their own Castles in the Air show on Cleveland's WKYC Channel 3 that featured some of Smoky's incredible tricks. Smoky performed 42 times on live television without ever repeating a trick. Smoky and Wynne were also popular performers at veterans' hospitals.
Wynne claims that "after the war, Smoky entertained millions during the late 1940s and early 1950s."
Corporal" Smoky died unexpectedly on February 21, 1957, at the age of 14. Smoky was buried in World War II .30 calibre ammo box in the Cleveland Metroparks' Rocky River Reservation in Lakewood, Ohio, by Wynne and his family.
On Veterans Day, November 11, 2005, a bronze life-size sculpture of Smoky sitting in a GI helmet atop a two-ton blue granite base by Susan Bahary was unveiled there. It is located directly above the spot where Smoky was laid to rest. This memorial is dedicated to โSmoky, the Yorkie Doodle Dandy, and the Dogs of All Wars".
(๐๐ฆ๐๐ ๐: ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ฒ๐ง๐ง๐ & ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ค๐๐ฒ)
(๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐: ๐๐ข๐ค๐ข๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐ & ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ข๐ ๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฆ ๐. ๐๐ฒ๐ง๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐จ)
(๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง: ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐'๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ง ๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ฌ, ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฌ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ง๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ. ๐๐ง ๐จ๐ซ๐๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐๐ฑ๐ญ, ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐๐ฒ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐ )
