A Hero Named Smoky

Get ready for a big story about a tiny little hero and one of the beloved mascots of the United States Army.  And to anyone who has benefited from dog or animal therapy of any kind, this is the official hero that started it all.  This episode shares the inspiring story about A Hero Named Smoky.

Book Reference: Yorkie Doodle Dandy, A Memoir.  By William A. Wynne.  1996.

Featuring music by Mary Selvidge. @selvidge613.

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Transcript

Welcome to Episode Nine of Hairy Hero Tails, animals to the rescue.  I’m your host, Kim Hegel.  

Today I’ve got another military hero for you, and while she may be pint-sized compared to our first episode’s big Hero, Sergeant Reckless, this hero is truly a huge hero to the United States, the Army and this podcast.  And you may not be aware of a highly valued initiative that our hero was documented as being the first officially to achieve.  Today’s episode is about A Hero Named Smoky.

It begins 4 years after the start of World War II in 1943 when she is believed to have been born.  Her exact origins are not known because she was found in a New Guinea jungle foxhole by an American soldier.  A brief backstory on the New Guinea WW2 campaign, it began in 1942 when the then Empire of Japan invaded in January of that year.  Anyone who knows their history will recognize that this is just one month after Imperial Navy of Japan attacked the United States Navy at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

The Allies at this time in WW2 were lead by Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States, but the makeup of troops in various war zones differed.  The war in the Pacific and specifically the New Guinea operation was made up of troops from Australia along with the Dutch and the United States. 

So while stationed near Nadzab, New Guinea, an American soldier found a tiny little Yorkie who was trapped in a foxhole in February 1944.  She appeared nearly fully grown although she weighed only 4 pounds and stood at a whopping 7 inches tall.

Initially the soldiers assumed that she belonged to the Japanese they were fighting, but in interacting with her in various inventive ways such as bringing her to a nearby Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, they realized she did not respond to Japanese or English.  I’ve found a few books and reports that indicate that Smoky may have been bartered and borrowed through the hands of a few American soldiers, but while still in the shadow of the New Guinea campaign, she eventually she landed with who would turn out to be her forever person and the one who would change both their lives forever.

Corporal William A Wynne, a native of Cleveland, OH, purchased little Smoky from whoever had Smoky last in the barter chain for two Australian dollars, which at the time was worth about $6.44 US dollars – and in today’s money that would be $111.53.  For anyone who has or every researched the cost to buy a Yorkie puppy this is about 10% of what you’d pay (and that’s at the at the low end) to buy a Yorkie puppy today.  Corporal Wynne got a great deal – and by the end of this story you’ll see he also got a great deal more than he expected.

From this point on, Wynne traveled with Smoky everywhere.  Wynne, who had enlisted in the Army in January 1943, served for a total of 24 months in the Pacific and Far Eastern fronts with the 26th Photo Recon Squadron and the 6th Photo Recon Group.  Now my Dad was a Force Recon Marine back in the early 1960s.  He was involved in the Bay of Pigs and was in the area of Viet Nam I think… He didn’t talk too much about it or what being a Recon Marine meant.  I’d heard stories from my older brother that he’d crawl into the tunnels in Viet Nam (what I’d heard this was called a tunnel rat) but I can’t be sure how true that really is because my Dad refused to discuss it, at least with me.  But I knew Recon meant small reconnaissance groups that moved ahead of our troops to learn enemy locations, formations, weapons, and other critical pre-strike details.  I knew Recon meant dangerous.  So while Corporal Wynne was a photographer during WWII, it was in the dangerous pursuit of key photos needed for Allies to plan each movement of troops in the New Guinea operations.  He’s documented as flying 13 air/sea rescue and photo reconnaissance missions.  And if you know anything about the results?  His information was highly effective.  The Allies are described in several documentaries and articles I found as “delivering a crushing defeat on Japan and with heavy losses for the Empire of Japan”.  And for these missions, at least those after he purchased little Smoky, a tiny Yorkie terrier was along for the ride.

Corporal Wynne is quoted as saying that “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.”  She traveled with Wynne and was often secured during these missions within a soldiers back pack near machine guns on board the plane.

Ultimately from her time with Wynne and “service” in WWII, Smoky was awarded eight battle stars.  The tiny soldier survived 150 air raids as well as a typhoon (the pacific term for hurricane).

Wynne shared his tent, his bed and blanket along with his rations of food and the occasional treat (a can of Spam).  To prep her in case they needed to ever parachute from a plane, Wynne set up a test for her to parachute from a tree at 30 feet using a special chute made just for her.  I’ve seen photos – appears to me she may have her tail tucked a bit, but she’s got her paws out prepped to land!  

Wynne also credits her with saving his life and warning him of the danger of incoming mortar shells while on a transport ship – then ultimately helping to guide him to safety around the fire that struck soldiers around him.

There was some downtime for Wynne and Smoky as well and he used this time very effectively.  You see Wynne started teaching Smoky some tricks, and this would change their lives and may have actually effected your life in ways that Wynne did not see coming at that time.

The bond that Wynne developed with Smoky paid off in other ways during their time in the Army.  At one point in the war, group that manages communications and transmission of information, known in the Army as the Signal Corps, well they needed to run a wire through a long, 70 foot pipe.  And that pipe was skinny – only 8 inches in diameter.  At only 7” tall, guess who could fit it?  Even though little Smoky was not too keen on it and early on, turned back after initially entering the pipe, Smoky did successfully pull the wire which had been attached by a rope to her collar, all the way through as a result of moving towards and finally running at Corporal Wynne.  Quote later, Wynne said, “The dust was rising from the shuffle of her paws – I could no longer see her.  I called and pleaded, not knowing for certain whether she was coming out or not.  She broke into a run and we were so happy at Smoky’s success that we patted and praised her for a full five minutes.” This work – this crawling in the dark alone in a tunnel of pipe saved crewmen a lot of moving around and construction over what probably would have been days along with keeping the fighters and reconnaissance planes operational that may have had to be grounded during construction.  A small job that resolved a huge problem in just 15 minutes.

Smoky was a hero to those soldiers that day, but she did even more amazing work in the field of troop comfort.  While still in the Pacific, according to dogsintherapy.com website, Wynne was in the hospital recovering in the Phillippines and was there for several days.  Smoky was brought to the hospital by Army pals to cheer Wynne up.  But she didn’t just cheer him up, she also lifted the spirits of many of the other wounded soldiers around Wynne.  This information made it’s way to the Commanding Offiers of the Hospital, Dr. Charles Mayo.  Yup – you heard that right – THAT Mayo.  He realized this little Yorkie could do something special and he ultimately decided to take Smoky with him on his rounds in the hospital.

From this point on, Smoky visited field hospitals to perform, cuddle and with just her presence, cheer up her wounded and suffering comrades.  The first officially documented visit for this purpose was in July 1944 at the 233rd Station Hospital in New Guinea.  Guided by field nurses, Smoky made her way to various wards and areas of the hospital to see incoming casualties from the Biak Island invasion.  Her visit did more than just a simple “making an appearance”.

But first a little clarification on the situation our Hero Smoky was facing when she arrived to greet these Biak Island Battle soldiers.

Biak Island which is currently a part of Indonesia, at that time in 1944 was occupied by Japan and was a strategic location for both sides of the war – it held several great locations for landings which could then support resupplying for air attacks.  The Japanese in fact had built 3 airfields on it.  It was also very close to the Philippine Islands – which was a key push for the Allies in the Pacific War operation.

The battle took about 10 days with the Allies prevailing.  And there were significant casualties on both sides.  I won’t cover the details, but I can tell you I found articles and references that show this battle was horrendous and even more than that, I found an article on Warfare History Network that was published in 2014 titled “The Battle of Biak: A Terrifying Glimpse into the Soul of Mankind”.  Bottomline – it was a horrific battle and allied soldiers who survived saw things they likely were never able to unsee during their lifetime.

So to see a little Yorkie whose serving in the Army and who can do tricks but also be adorably cute, well this did bring some joy and comfort to those being brought to these field hospitals after suffering in such a battle.  I found one article referencing a soldier who had been injured – I am not sure in what battle, it could have been the Biak Island – but he had refused and refused for a while to speak to hospital staff including his doctors for weeks, maybe months.  When little Smoky appeared for a visit, guess what?  This soldier spoke for the first time – which generated a waterfall of tears from the nurses and staff.  It was a small thing – the willingness to speak – that was the start of a long road to healing for this soldier.  But it was an important start.  And Smoky did that.

Four months after V-E Day when Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allies in May 1945, World War II officially ended in the Pacific when Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945 on the battleship USS Missouri.  Wynne was going home and he was bringing home the smallest little hero with him.

Given that Wynne was a photographer, there are some fantastic photos of Smoky while still in New Guinea and many of these and other photos were published upon Wynne’s return to his Cleveland, OH home.  The Cleveland Press published a page one story on December 7, 1945 – again, if you know your history, this date is exactly 4 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor – and she and Wynne began to steal the hearts of everyone and became a national sensation.

After that, for more than 10-years, Smoky and Wynne would travel around where Wynne would introduce the pint sized heroine and showcase her talents to veteran hospitals (continuing her therapy work), TV shows and eventually Hollywood.  She appeared on 42 live television shows and according to Wikipedia, she did so without ever repeating a single trick.  One amazing skill she demonstrated?  Walking a tight-rope… blindfolded!  

Sadly, little Smoky died on February 21, 1957 at the age of 14.  Wynne and her family buried her in Lakewood, Ohio within the Cleveland Metroparks within a World War II .30 caliber ammo box.  There is a lovely monument there today that shows it was provided by Susan Bahary in 2005 & depicts the most famous photo of little Smoky – the one where she is nestled within the helmet of an Army Soldier.

Smoky has been honored in other ways as well.  The Ohio Veternary Medicine Association in Columbus Ohio has named Smoky the No. 1 Dog Hero within their animal hall of fame.  The annual Yorkshire Terrier National Rescue delivers annually to the Rescues of the year a “Smoky Award” in honor of our hero.  And most recently Smoky was honored by the Philippine Post – which is also know and the Philippine Post Office – with her very own stamp in 2024.

Officially, Smoky has been identified by Animal Planet as the first recorded therapy dog as a result of their investigation & finding the documented visit she made in New Guinea in 1944.  Remember I said at the beginning that she initiated a highly valued initiative that we enjoy today?  We’ll this is it.  Can you image a world without therapy dogs or therapy animals?  I’m glad we don’t have to.  Because while she was pint sized, her big heart did a lot of good it its lifetime – and little Smoky is still a hero and a brought us a still today impactful legacy of healing.

If you'd like to learn more about little Smoky or Bill Wynne, I highly recommend the book Yorkie Doodle Dandy.  It was published in 1996 and is still available today.

Unfortunately, we lost Mr. Wynne not that long ago.  He died at the age of 99 in 2021.  Little Smoky is still a hero and her legacy and the legacy of Bill Wynne brings us important healing everyday.

While that only touches the surface of this amazing Hairy Hero, we have to leave it there for this episode.  If you know of a great Hairy Hero Tale and would like to hear it on this podcast, email us at hairyherotails@gmail.com.  For more information on this program visit our website www.hairyherotails.com.  And be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and wherever you get your podcasts.  

This is a Southpaw Productions podcast edited, produced and hosted by me, Kim Hegel.  Opening and closing music provided by Mary Selvidge.  Be sure to follower her on Instagram @selvidge613 for her live show schedule and check out her complete catalog of music available on Spotify, Apple Music, and more.

And remember – there are hairy four legged heroes all around us.  Who knows – you might even adopt one?  I’ve adopted many little heroes from some amazing animal rescue organizations.  I’ve featured two on my website.  The All American Dachshund Rescue and the French Bulldog Rescue Network.  If you are looking to rescue your next hero or would like to help with transport or financial support, I highly recommend both of these organizations –neither are not affiliated with this program in any way, but both have my sincere gratitude and support.

Thank you to all the heroes of the world – and a special shout for Hairy Heroes everywhere!