05/28/2018
On this Memorial Day, ACCESS Specialty Animal Hospitals salutes ‘Smoky’, a war hero and the first therapy dog on record.
Found by American GI’s in an abandoned foxhole in the New Guinea jungle in February 1944, Smoky – a Yorkshire Terrier weighing only 4 pounds – is credited with surviving 150 air raids, flying 13 combat missions over Borneo and Mindanao, the second largest island in the Philippines, and was awarded eight battle stars.
In July 1944 she was ‘based’ at the 233rd Station Hospital in New Guinea, commanded by Dr. Charles Mayo (the son of Mayo Clinic co-founder Charles Horace Mayo) where she accompanied doctors on their rounds, providing comfort to injured troops. According to an Animal Planet investigation, this made her the first therapy dog of record.
Sadly, ‘Corporal’ Smoky died on February 21, 1957 and was buried in the Cleveland Metroparks, in Lakewood, Ohio.
On Veterans Day, November 11, 2005, a bronze life-size sculpture of Smoky sitting in a GI helmet was unveiled at her final resting place with a dedication: “Smoky, the Yorkie Doodle Dandy, and the Dogs of All Wars".
Discover more at www.smokywardog.com
This image is a faithful digitization of a unique historic image, and the copyright for it is most likely held by the person who created the image. It is believed that the use of this image may qualify as fair use under the Copyright law of the United States.
