| Soon after becoming the mascot for SWPA's 26th | | | | with the communications line attached to her collar? |
| Recon Squadron, Smoky won "Yank Down Under" | | | | Wynne asked for, and received, a promise - if Smoky |
| magazine's first prize in their 1944 mascot contest. Her | | | | got stuck, the crew would dig down and rescue her. |
| status as mascot was soon elevated to that of War | | | | Where some sections of the culvert were joined, sand |
| Dog and Heroine. Smoky was called upon to serve | | | | had sifted down to fill the pipe with only 3"-4" |
| her country in a most unusual way and in a feat of | | | | clearance. Could she do it? |
| sheer bravery, she rose to the challenge. | | | | Corporal Wynne lay on his stomach peering into one |
| During the Luzon invasion, after surviving an air-sea | | | | end of the culvert while his buddies held Smoky at the |
| kamikaze attack, Corporal Bill Wynne's ship struck | | | | other end. He called for Smoky but she hesitated. He |
| ground. With his barracks bag over one shoulder, his | | | | called again, "Come, Smoky; come on, baby, come on." |
| weapon in one hand and tiny Smoky tucked under his | | | | Sure enough, his little "baby" started making her way |
| arm, he set out in waist-deep water toward shore, 40 | | | | through that dark culvert. She trusted Corporal Wynne |
| feet away. What a sight this must have been - | | | | with her life. When she was close to the other end, |
| soldiers under enemy attack wading to shore, and a | | | | she started running and burst through the pipe into |
| tiny Yorkshire Terrier going with them! | | | | Wynne's arms amid cheers and "atta girls"! The |
| Found in an abandoned foxhole in New Guinea in 1944 | | | | communications officer proclaimed that Smoky would |
| during World War II, a tiny Yorkshire Terrier would | | | | have steak from the mess hall that night, and sure |
| become a decorated war heroine. Topping the scales | | | | enough she did. |
| at four pounds, Smoky the Yorkie was tiny in body but | | | | Smoky's special mission in the combat area of the |
| large in spirit. Bill Wynne, the American soldier who | | | | Lingayen Gulf on Luzon resulted in teletype and phone |
| bought Smoky for two pounds Australian ($6.44 | | | | lines being activated for the U.S. and Allied forces. She |
| American), opened his heart to the little dog. A bond of | | | | could not have accomplished this without her love and |
| love and trust quickly developed between the two as | | | | devotion to Corporal Wynne, and her complete trust in |
| Smoky also stole the hearts of many other military | | | | him. Unlike other war dogs, Smoky had received no |
| men serving with Bill Wynne. | | | | special training to prepare her for service. |
| After U.S. troops captured the first airfield on Luzon, | | | | After surviving kamikaze attacks, the Luzon invasion, |
| they had to establish vital communication. Telephone | | | | typhoons, a sting from a 6" jungle centipede, and many |
| lines needed to be run under a 70' airstrip. To dig up | | | | other challenges, Smoky now faced being left behind |
| the taxi runway, bury the lines, and repair the runway, | | | | as U.S. troops headed home after the war. Army |
| fighter planes would have to be relocated. P-51 | | | | regulations stated that "no dog or mascot will go back |
| Mustangs, P-38 Lightnings, and P-761 Black Widow | | | | to the U.S. on a War Department ship". Implementing |
| Night Fighters would not be able to use the landing strip | | | | his "concealment plan", Corporal Wynne and Smoky |
| during this operation, and would be exposed to enemy | | | | boarded the USS General Wm. H. Gordon together. |
| attack. | | | | The little dog he could not leave behind was smuggled |
| When an 8" diameter drainage culvert under the | | | | aboard ship in an oxygen-mask carrying case, heading |
| airstrip was located, Corporal Wynne was summoned. | | | | to her new home in the United States. |
| Did he think Smoky would crawl through the culvert, | | | | |