smokey
Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2016 2:13 pm
Every day waves of Japanese planes attacked the Allied airfield at Lingayen Gulf on Luzon,
the largest of the Philippine Islands.
The onslaught was taking a toll on communications, and the American commanders urgently needed to run telephone
lines through a pipe that stretched roughly 70 feet underground from the base to three separate squadrons,
but they lacked the proper equipment.
The pipe was just eight inches in diameter, and the only way to put the lines in place would be to send dozens of men
to dig a trench to get the wires underground, a dangerous job that would've taken days and left the men exposed
to the constant enemy attacks.
So instead, they pinned their hopes on an unconventional solution: send a tiny Yorkshire terrier through the pipe
with kite string tied to her collar. The string could then be used to thread the wires through the pipe.
Calling to her, coaxing her forward was her owner, Corporal Bill Wynne, a 22-year-old Ohio native, who'd adopted her while he was in New Guinea.
The little dog reached the other side, the communication network was established, and she was credited with saving the lives of some 250 men and 40 planes that day.
But in the years to come, the little Yorkie would achieve much greater acclaim for her healing effect on wounded soldiers.
Smoky was credited with twelve combat missions. She survived 150 air raids on New Guinea and made it through a typhoon at Okinawa.
Smoky even parachuted from 30 feet (9.1 m) in the air, out of a tree, using a parachute made just for her.
the largest of the Philippine Islands.
The onslaught was taking a toll on communications, and the American commanders urgently needed to run telephone
lines through a pipe that stretched roughly 70 feet underground from the base to three separate squadrons,
but they lacked the proper equipment.
The pipe was just eight inches in diameter, and the only way to put the lines in place would be to send dozens of men
to dig a trench to get the wires underground, a dangerous job that would've taken days and left the men exposed
to the constant enemy attacks.
So instead, they pinned their hopes on an unconventional solution: send a tiny Yorkshire terrier through the pipe
with kite string tied to her collar. The string could then be used to thread the wires through the pipe.
Calling to her, coaxing her forward was her owner, Corporal Bill Wynne, a 22-year-old Ohio native, who'd adopted her while he was in New Guinea.
The little dog reached the other side, the communication network was established, and she was credited with saving the lives of some 250 men and 40 planes that day.
But in the years to come, the little Yorkie would achieve much greater acclaim for her healing effect on wounded soldiers.
Smoky was credited with twelve combat missions. She survived 150 air raids on New Guinea and made it through a typhoon at Okinawa.
Smoky even parachuted from 30 feet (9.1 m) in the air, out of a tree, using a parachute made just for her.