- [Narrator] World War II saw lots of heroes,
Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Commander Eisenhower,
but one you probably don't recognize is Smokey,
a Yorkshire Terrier, and the tiniest war hero of all time.
(dog panting)
- [Man Voiceover] I feel Smokey and I
were destined to be together.
- [Narrator] That's Bill Wynne, a corporal at the time
and Smokey's owner.
He bought Smokey for $6.44 during his time serving
in the Pacific theater.
- [Bill Voiceover] I think that if she’d fallen
into anyone else's hands,
she would never have been what she was.
- [Narrator] And she was remarkable.
(dog panting)
(toy squeaking)
Smokey followed Bill through 150 air raids,
12 combat missions, and once even led Bill
to safety during a Japanese bombing.
- [Bill Voiceover] Kaboom, kaboom, kaboom.
Well we'd look around,
we got eight of our buddies all wounded
around where Smokey and I were.
If Smokey hadn't taken me there,
I would've been standing with the other guys.
- [Voiceover] Good dog.
- [Narrator] Smokey also accompanied nurses on their rounds
at a US Army hospital in New Guinea.
- [Bill Voiceover] Smokey gets credit for being
the first therapy dog on record.
(dog panting)
- [Narrator] Back in Bill's hometown of Cleveland,
Smokey became famous doing tricks on TV shows.
(dog barking)
- [Bill Voiceover] She could walk on a drum,
she could ride a scooter.
- [Narrator] Smokey died a celebrity in 1957,
but she wasn't forgotten.
She has memorials in--
- [Bill Voiceover] Ohio, Pennsylvania, Australia,
Hawaii, Tennessee.
- [Narrator] But her biggest legacy...
Popular belief is that Smokey's the reason
that Yorkies are such a popular pet.
So thank Smokey the World War II dog
for all those cute little Yorkies.
(dog barking)
(dog toy squeaking)