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)