Read Online A Dog With a Destiny by Isabel George - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Isabel George
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call – Smoky had cheated death by no more than six inches.
Always feeling there was room for improvement when it came to the tricks and to discipline, Bill gained permission to use a house next to his tent as a rehearsal hall. As before, he covered the slatted bamboo floor with a sheet of plywood to safeguard Smoky’s feet and set about adding to the repertoire of tricks and refining the old favourites. He tried out a new combination act which involved jumping through a hoop and also introduced Smoky to the idea of spelling out her name in large cardboard letters. This became Bill and Smoky’s early morning routine before the 37°C heat of the day set in. And it was worth it. Bill really felt the show was ready to go on.
* * *
The day President Franklin D. Roosevelt died, a nation mourned and Harry Truman took on the mantle of President of the United States of America and Commander-in-Chief of the military. The troops looked to him to bring the war in the Pacific to a swift and satisfactory end.
The realities of living in a war zone were often too close and Smoky and all the other adopted menagerie of animals were constantly under threat from the heat and various diseases which could descend suddenly and kill within days. The moment Bill got wind that there was another threat in the camp, he isolated Smoky from every other creature in the place. Bill was disturbed one morning at about 3 a.m. by the sound of digging. It turned out that it was his friend Frank Petrilak and another friend digging a grave. The small, deep hole in the earth was for Smoky’s pup Topper. He was only six months old when he died. The disease claimed the lives of thirty squadron dogs in one week. Only four survived; Smoky was one of them.
On 5 February 1945, a 1st Cavalry American tank liberated over 3,000 prisoners of war being held at the Santo Tomas internment camp. The crew opened the gates with a blast from the tank’s guns and the prisoners, mostly American, poured out. They were the first Americans in the invasion force to land on Manila. Tears of gratitude and relief lined their faces. It seemed appropriate that the Red Cross should move onto the site and transform the former prison camp into a general army hospital. It was also appropriate that the Red Cross send an invitation to their old friends Bill and Smoky to come and entertain the patients. Bill and Smoky wasted no time in boarding a truck bound for Santo Tomas where they were welcomed with open arms by the Red Cross nurses.
Taking very little equipment with him, Bill was still able to put on a show for fifteen wards. Each time, the show was a standing ovation success. Walking through the legs (the grapevine), playing dead and singing a few old Forces favourites brought smiles to many faces, providing the kind of medicine you cannot buy in a bottle. Photographs were taken and Smoky was interviewed on American Red Cross in Manila radio.
Back home, Bill’s beloved Margi was able to see her man and Smoky in the newspapers and hear them on the radio. Others in the squadron started to receive letters from loved ones saying how they had seen the wonderful mascot dog, Smoky, on the news and once again Bill had a celebrity on his hands.
The war in Europe was over but it continued on Luzon where the casualties of the war were evident every day. In the North, a 40,000-strong Japanese Force was defending this slice of the Philippines. It was reported that the American losses on Luzon were high with over 8,000 killed in action, almost 30,000 injured and 157 missing. Japanese losses were higher at over 170,000 killed. The campaign on Luzon was indicative of the way the war was going. And for Bill and Smoky, the American advance on retaking territory from the enemy meant a move out to Okinawa to assist the planned invasion of Japan. It was July 1945 and the men and dogs of 26th Photo Recon Squadron were being briefed by their commanding officer ahead of being shipped out.
‘We must
Always feeling there was room for improvement when it came to the tricks and to discipline, Bill gained permission to use a house next to his tent as a rehearsal hall. As before, he covered the slatted bamboo floor with a sheet of plywood to safeguard Smoky’s feet and set about adding to the repertoire of tricks and refining the old favourites. He tried out a new combination act which involved jumping through a hoop and also introduced Smoky to the idea of spelling out her name in large cardboard letters. This became Bill and Smoky’s early morning routine before the 37°C heat of the day set in. And it was worth it. Bill really felt the show was ready to go on.
* * *
The day President Franklin D. Roosevelt died, a nation mourned and Harry Truman took on the mantle of President of the United States of America and Commander-in-Chief of the military. The troops looked to him to bring the war in the Pacific to a swift and satisfactory end.
The realities of living in a war zone were often too close and Smoky and all the other adopted menagerie of animals were constantly under threat from the heat and various diseases which could descend suddenly and kill within days. The moment Bill got wind that there was another threat in the camp, he isolated Smoky from every other creature in the place. Bill was disturbed one morning at about 3 a.m. by the sound of digging. It turned out that it was his friend Frank Petrilak and another friend digging a grave. The small, deep hole in the earth was for Smoky’s pup Topper. He was only six months old when he died. The disease claimed the lives of thirty squadron dogs in one week. Only four survived; Smoky was one of them.
On 5 February 1945, a 1st Cavalry American tank liberated over 3,000 prisoners of war being held at the Santo Tomas internment camp. The crew opened the gates with a blast from the tank’s guns and the prisoners, mostly American, poured out. They were the first Americans in the invasion force to land on Manila. Tears of gratitude and relief lined their faces. It seemed appropriate that the Red Cross should move onto the site and transform the former prison camp into a general army hospital. It was also appropriate that the Red Cross send an invitation to their old friends Bill and Smoky to come and entertain the patients. Bill and Smoky wasted no time in boarding a truck bound for Santo Tomas where they were welcomed with open arms by the Red Cross nurses.
Taking very little equipment with him, Bill was still able to put on a show for fifteen wards. Each time, the show was a standing ovation success. Walking through the legs (the grapevine), playing dead and singing a few old Forces favourites brought smiles to many faces, providing the kind of medicine you cannot buy in a bottle. Photographs were taken and Smoky was interviewed on American Red Cross in Manila radio.
Back home, Bill’s beloved Margi was able to see her man and Smoky in the newspapers and hear them on the radio. Others in the squadron started to receive letters from loved ones saying how they had seen the wonderful mascot dog, Smoky, on the news and once again Bill had a celebrity on his hands.
The war in Europe was over but it continued on Luzon where the casualties of the war were evident every day. In the North, a 40,000-strong Japanese Force was defending this slice of the Philippines. It was reported that the American losses on Luzon were high with over 8,000 killed in action, almost 30,000 injured and 157 missing. Japanese losses were higher at over 170,000 killed. The campaign on Luzon was indicative of the way the war was going. And for Bill and Smoky, the American advance on retaking territory from the enemy meant a move out to Okinawa to assist the planned invasion of Japan. It was July 1945 and the men and dogs of 26th Photo Recon Squadron were being briefed by their commanding officer ahead of being shipped out.
‘We must
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