Sometimes you'll catch something of TV about war dogs. Normally, there are pictures of German Shepherds, Dobermans, etc. Jack points out that labs also served with distinction in Vietnam and continue to serve today (last article on the page).
But it's not all about the badasses and bomb-sniffers.
Sparky would like to point out, as Memorial Day approaches, that Yorkies have made their own contributions to the national defense. Well, at least one.
Smoky was found on side of a road in New Guinea, and spent the war as the sidekick of an Army Air Corps aerial photographer. She made some pretty significant contributions as an early sort of therapy dog, but also served on the ground, under fire.
Smoky once pulled a string with phone lines attached through an eight-inch pipe under 70 feet of runway. Every four feet was a couple of inches of sand that Smoky had to dig through.
If the pipe had been hand-dug, the planes on the strip would have had to have been moved to an area that was constantly being bombed. The job would have taken three If three days had it been dug manually. Smoky finished it in two minutes.
Smoky went on to live a long and happy life, appearing on television and touring the country with her person.
We dog people know that deep in the heart of each German Shepherd, there's a war dog snarling to get out. Little did we realize our Yorkies also have martial inclinations.
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