Smoky War Dog Memorial

2003

Thanks to all who helped raise money for rescue by purchasing a Raffle Ticket to win the Smoky 5.

And the Winner is... Ann Maucieri of Lawrence, MA and Kennebunkport, ME, who bought her tickets at one of the New England picnics.

Yorkshire Terrier National Rescue would like to publicly thank Ann for the following:

November 3, 2003

Dear Mary Elizabeth,

I wanted to let you know how surprised I was when I learned that I had won the Smoky 5 drawing. When I purchased the ticket I never thought I would be a winner, but I did so to support Yorkshire Terrier National Rescue. At that time, I told Sandi Ritchie, from whom I purchased the ticket, that in the unlikely event that I would win, that I would donate it to Yorkshire Terrier National Rescue. I wanted to convey this to you so that my intentions are clear.

The best of luck to the organization and to the good works that you perform.

Sincerely,
Ann Maucieri

We are deeply greatful to Ann for this generous donation to Yorkshire Terrier National Rescue.

Read on to learn more about the real Smoky!

Smoky was a four pound Yorkie that was found in an abandoned jungle foxhole in New Guinea in early 1944. Smoky was found by 20-year-old PFC Bill Wynne. Bill and Smoky flew combat missions and went through many air raids together. Bill trained her to do over two hundred tricks and commands. In addition to being the most famous rescue, Smoky is the first therapy dog on record starting with serving battlefield casualties at the 233rd Station Hospital in New Guinea in 1944. After the war, Bill and Smoky performed on stage, pioneered live TV and continued doing shows at military and civilian hospitals, orphanages and nursing homes for 10 years after the war. Smoky is the most famous WWII War Dog.

Veteran's dog was a loved mascot for unit during WWII

Published August 8, 2004 in the News Journal by RON SIMON

Monday afternoon, 82-year-old Bill Wynne will take the pitcher's mound to throw the first ball to a catcher behind home plate when the Eastlake Captains play the Greensboro Bats out in the eastern suburbs of Cleveland.

More important, Wynne's Yorkie, Habie, will be on the mound with him. Monday will be doggie day at the ballpark, a promotion for the Captains, a minor league franchise of the Cleveland Indians.

Wynne, whose wife, Margaret, died May 7 after a long illness, lives on Harlan Road not far from Charles Mill Lake. But most of his life was spent in Cleveland, where he had two careers.

The lesser known one was doing some high-flying photography work for NASA. It was a continuation of his aerial photography work in the South Pacific during World War II.

The other was 10 years of show business with his talented Yorkshire terrier, Smoky.

Bill and Smoky appeared often on Cleveland's Channel 3 in a show called "Castles in the Air.'' Smoky could do a million tricks, like wire walking. She was a dog with charisma.

She also was a war hero. "Yank,'' the service magazine, once featured Smoky on its cover. She was sitting in an upturned steel pot and the magazine called her "the best mascot in the South Pacific'' and "World War II's tiny heroine.''

Wynne said another soldier in his unit found the tiny terrier in a foxhole in the New Guinea jungles. How she got there is anyone's guess. But she was starving.

"The guy who found her really didn't like dogs all that much. He needed money to stay in a poker game so I bought her from him for two Australian pounds,'' Wynne said.

Smoky, as the tiny terrier came to be know, was a super-talented critter and a much-loved mascot for Wynne's unit, an Army Air Force photo reconnaissance squadron. She entertained wounded troops in hospitals. "She was one of the first therapy dogs on record,'' he said.

Wynne said Smoky's great service was in pulling a string through a long and small drain pipe under a busy fighter plane airfield that allowed a communications line to be set up under the field without ever disrupting traffic on the field.

"Only a tiny and rather courageous dog could have done it,'' he said.

Smoky died in 1957 after an incredibly useful life. Only recently did Wynne come up with another Yorkie. She is called Habie, which means "sweetheart'' in Arabic, he said.

The big event at Eastlake on Monday honors dogs and was set up by Jim Strand, a former Marine Corps helicopter pilot who served in Vietnam. Everyone who brings a dog to the park for Doggie Day will pay $3, and the money will go to the local humane society.

Dick Goddard, Cleveland's television weatherman icon, will sing the national anthem. He and Wynne will lead a doggie parade around the park.

Eastlake happens to be the home of Doggie Park. There are memorials honoring police, rescue and search dogs and a special monument honoring Smoky, World War II's littlest soldier and most famous war dog. There is a small photo of Smoky on this granite monument.

Wynne said there is also a plan to create a small bronze statue of Smoky to be included in a veterans' memorial in the Rocky River Reservation on the other side of Cleveland.

What a dog that Smoky was.

---

October 13, 2004
University of Tennessee

Dr. Leon Potgieter - Associate Dean of Hospital Operations
Mary Elizabeth Dugmore, Dr Karen Tobias, & Bill Wynne

Photo copy write of the UT-Knoxville Media Relations department

Yorkie Doodle Dandy - $16.00
Written by Bill Wynne

A book about Smoky a 4 pound Yorkie war dog during World War II in the South Pacific, and as an entertainer after the war.

This is a wonderful story and great reading! A must read for any Yorkie Lover!

Includes training tips for your dog.

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