THROUGH SULLIVAN’S EYE – THE STORY OF YORKIE DOODLE DANDY
On Friday, March 11, 2015 at 3:30 an event will take place at the Rocky River Library Auditorium, 1600 Hampton 
Rd., which is not far from the final Rocky River Reservation MetroParks resting place of the honoree, a Yorkshire Terrier named Smoky. Also present will be Bill Wynne, a sprite and bright 93 year old author and World War II veteran. Both Smoky’s story and Bill’s are remarkable. On Friday Smoky will be posthumously honored both here and in Australia. Their Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals will award its animal bravery Purple Cross Award to Smoky. It recognizes his service in flying on combat photo-recon missions with Wynne. They both also visited hospitalized soldiers on New Guinea and in Australia. Wynne will speak about Smoky followed by a presentation of the award and a book signing.
Wynne readily admits there were two women in his life. He kiddingly says “The other woman was a real dog.” After having read Yorkie Doodle Dandy, I came away with a feeling of enchantment. There are two stories between the covers. Bill Wynne’s and the other woman – Smoky. Although Wynne loved them both dearly, he dedicates his book to his wife Margie.
Born in 1925 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Bill Wynne grew up in a fatherless home on the West Side of Cleveland. When he was three years old his father bailed on the family. Bill never saw him again. His single mother Beatrice Caffrey Wynne, who would later become Phi Beta Kappa, raised her family of three children by herself.
The family struggled during the Depression years. When times were the roughest, he and his brother Jim, like many
other boys of the time, were shipped off to Parmadale Orphanage, run by the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, while his sister Mary went to Scranton to live with her maternal grandparents.
While at Parmadale he learned an important lesson that he carried throughout life. On a ramshackle baseball team with other kids his age, their grit and determination won them the championship. “That lesson proved there is always hope, anything can be accomplished.” His loneliness from being separated from his family during that time led him to befriend animals. After two years he rejoined his family.
Because of the difficulties his family faced, they were forced to move ten times. Bill attended three different grade schools. “Running the streets is not conducive to study.” Needless to say, Bill became introverted and was not an attentive student. “Yet, observation was one of my best teachers.” It becomes obvious in reading the book and meeting the man that those hard experiences lead to his developing a creative imagination that serves him to his day. He readily admits he was twenty years old when he finally graduated from high school. There are not many ordinary people who would admit to that but Bill is not ordinary.
At West Tech High School he was introduced to photography, one of a couple events that changed the course of his life. When WWII broke out, Bill joined the U.S. Army Air Force. His photography experience was noted and he ended up in the Pacific Theater with the 26th Photo Recon Squadron, 5th Air Force. While on Nazdab, New Guinea with the 5th Air Force, a buddy found a small female Yorkshire Terrier stuck in an abandoned foxhole. For three pounds Australian she became a life-changing event for him. Because of her blue-gray eye color he named her “Smoky.”
As I mentioned, there are two stories here. While I’ve been writing about Bill, the book is really about Smoky, the amazing little bundle of energy who became “Australia’s First War Dog.” During the war Bill trained Smoky to do a number of tricks. She accompanied him on combat aerial missions and became a decorated “War Dog,” and also the first documented “Therapy Dog”. Maxwell Riddle, noted dog historian, author and judge said, “I’ve seen them all, SMOKY is the greatest.” With that being said, you’ll need to read the book to learn of the remarkable life story Wynne has written.
With her healing work at military hospitals among the wounded, Smoky became legendary. When the war ended Wynne sneaked her home where they became a famous act together, entertaining veterans recovering from war wounds, children and adults far and wide.
Because he came from a broken family, Bill turned down many offers to relocate to Hollywood and elsewhere. Instead he raised his family in Cleveland. His post-war experiences included working as a newspaper photo/journalist, Reporter and Flight Photographer in Icing Research for NACA/NASA. And now he’s an author. A screenplay on this book is currently in development. At 93 years young he’s writing a second book. “What’s in it?” I asked. “Everything I left out of the first one.”
Bill and his wife Margie, who passed in 2004, raised nine children: Joanne Wynne Ozarzak, William G. (deceased), Susan W. Kovach, Marcia W. Deering, Robert J., Donna W. Tabar, Patrick J., Margaret W. Stockmaster and James. They have 27 grandchildren and 28 great grand children.
On Friday Wynne will offer a talk about Smoky followed by the presentation of the award and a book signing. If you can’t get to the library the book can be purchased on Amazon.com.
