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