Found in an abandoned foxhole in New Guinea in 1944 during World War II, a tiny Yorkshire Terrier would become a decorated war heroine.

Topping the scales at four pounds, Smoky the Yorkie was tiny in body but large in spirit.  Bill Wynne, the American soldier who bought Smoky for two pounds Australian ($6.44 American), opened his heart to the little dog.

A bond of love and trust quickly developed between the two as Smoky also stole the hearts of many other military men serving with Bill Wynne.

Soon after becoming the mascot for SWPA's 26th Recon Squadron, Smoky won "Yank Down Under" magazine's first prize in their 1944 mascot contest.
 
Her status as mascot was soon elevated to that of War Dog and Heroine.  Smoky was called upon to serve her country in a most unusual way and in a feat of sheer bravery, she rose to the challenge.

During the Luzon invasion, after surviving an air-sea kamikaze attack, Corporal Bill Wynne's ship struck ground.  With his barracks bag over one shoulder, his weapon in one hand and tiny Smoky tucked under his arm, he set out in waist-deep water toward shore, 40 feet away.  What a sight this must have been - soldiers under enemy attack wading to shore, and a tiny Yorkshire Terrier going with them!

After U.S. troops captured the first airfield on Luzon, they had to establish vital communication.  Telephone lines needed to be run under a 70' airstrip.  To dig up the taxi runway, bury the lines, and repair the runway, fighter planes would have to be relocated.  P-51 Mustangs, P-38 Lightnings, and P-761 Black Widow Night Fighters would not be able to use the landing strip during this operation, and would be exposed to enemy attack.

When an 8" diameter drainage culvert under the airstrip was located, Corporal Wynne was summoned.  Did he think Smoky would crawl through the culvert, with the communications line attached to her collar? 

Wynne asked for, and received, a promise - if Smoky got stuck, the crew would dig down and rescue her.  Where some sections of the culvert were joined, sand had sifted down to fill the pipe with only 3"-4" clearance.  Could she do it?

Corporal Wynne lay on his stomach peering into one end of the culvert while his buddies held Smoky at the other end.  He called for Smoky but she hesitated.  He called again, "Come, Smoky; come on, baby, come on."  Sure enough, his little "baby" started making her way through that dark culvert.  She trusted Corporal Wynne with her life.

When she was close to the other end, she started running and burst through the pipe into Wynne's arms amid cheers and "atta girls"!  The communications officer proclaimed that Smoky would have steak from the mess hall that night, and sure enough she did.

Smoky's special mission in the combat area of the Lingayen Gulf on Luzon resulted in teletype and phone lines being activated for the U.S. and Allied forces.  She could not have accomplished this without her love and devotion to Corporal Wynne, and her complete trust in him. 

After surviving kamikaze attacks, the Luzon invasion, typhoons, a sting from a 6" jungle centipede, and many other challenges, Smoky now faced being left behind as U.S. troops headed home after the war.  Army regulations stated that "no dog or mascot will go back to the U.S. on a War Department ship".

Implementing his "concealment plan", Corporal Wynne and Smoky boarded the USS General Wm. H. Gordon together.  The little dog he could not leave behind was smuggled aboard ship in an oxygen-mask carrying case, heading to her new home in the United States.

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Smoky is also the first documented therapy dog, having served the troops in countless military hospitals.  As Bill Wynne writes in "Yorkie Doodle Dandy", Smoky's "very presence unfailingly turned serious faces into smiles."

"Sometimes under stress it only takes a delightful moment of diversion" to lead someone away "from the path heading for mental disaster."

"My Yorkie Doodle Dandy could make Americans at war forget their troubles simply by watching her chase giant butterflies..."

The little dog he could not leave behind served him faithfully for 13 years, until her death in 1957.

Smoky died on February 21^st and was buried on February 22^nd, George Washington's Birthday. She is now buried under her monument in Cleveland Metroparks, America's number one rated public park. She rests in a WWII 30 cal. ammunition box. Smoky has six memorials nationally.

"Her tub was my helmet..."

"...half a helmetful for the bath, another half for the rinse."

                                 -- Bill Wynne

Red Cross volunteers made a blanket/coat for Smoky out of a green wool felt card-table cover.

"A 5th Air Force patch was sewn on along with corporal's stripes.  A US insignia and a small brass propeller button, a triangular photo patch, two six-months-overseas bars, an Asiatic Pacific Ribbon and a Good Conduct Ribbon completed the decorations."

                            -- Bill Wynne







"Yorkie Doodle Dandy"
A Memoir
by William A. Wynne

Click Here to Order a signed copy of Corporal Wynne's book about Smoky.

Also included:
1) 8-1/2"x11" aerial map of the airfield with markings of the culvert under which Smoky ran the communications line.
2) Bill Wynne's documentation of Smoky's being the First Therapy Dog and how this connects Smoky to the founders of the Mayo Clinic.

Smoky is the ultimate "Yorkie rescue dog" - rescued from an abandoned foxhole in New Guinea.

My first Yorkie, Lucy, was also a rescue dog.

In memory of Lucy, Gracie & Co. is donating $5 from the sale of each signed copy of "Yorkie Doodle Dandy" to the Yorkshire Terrier National Rescue.

As Vice President of the Yorkshire Terrier National Rescue, Mr. Bill Wynne says the YTNR has been successful in placing 2500 Yorkies in 10 years.  The rescue Yorkies are first sent to foster homes where their needs are assessed before they are placed in loving adoptive homes.

Memorial Dedicated to:

SMOKY
Yorkie Doodle Dandy
and
Dogs of All Wars