The story of Smoky the Yorkshire Terrier

In February 1944, in the jungle of New Guinea, American soldiers found an adult Yorkshire Terrier in a foxhole. At first they thought the dog belonged to the Japanese, but it turned out the little dog understood commands neither in Japanese nor in English. Smoky ended up in the hands of soldier William "Bill" Wynne as payment for a poker debt that another soldier could not pay. With her new owner, Smoky took part in combat in the Pacific, slept in his tent and ate his food. Since she was not an official military dog, she was not entitled to see a vet or to have a special diet. Despite that, Smoky never once fell ill. Together with her owner she was decorated for taking part in eight battles and 12 combat missions; they survived a typhoon and 150 air raids. Once she was even dropped by a small parachute made especially for her, from a height of 9 metres. When Bill fell ill with a fever, she stayed by his side in the hospital for five days, and on one occasion she saved him by barking to warn that the enemy was close. One of her greatest achievements was helping to build an air base at Lingayen Gulf. Smoky crawled through the drainage pipes under the base, pulling communication wires through. When she was not taking part in the war or helping out, Smoky entertained wounded soldiers with tricks in hospitals from Australia to Korea. She gladly performed her most famous trick, walking a tightrope blindfolded. She was also a therapy dog. She survived the war and lived to a great old age. Today she has two monuments, one dedicated to all the dogs that died during the war, and the other erected personally by Bill and his wife. Bill is still alive, he is 99 years old, and he often walks with his terriers to the monument of the dog that made such a long life possible for him.