Bill Wynne


William "Bill" A. Wynne is an American author, decorated World War II veteran, dog trainer, photographer, award winning photojournalist, and community advocate. He also owned and trained Smokey the Dog.

Personal life

Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania to Martin A. and Beatrice Caffrey Wynne, Bill grew up in Cleveland, Ohio after having moved there as an infant.
He was married to Margaret Roberts Wynne on September 28, 1946, and they remained married for over 57 years until the time of her death, in 2004. Together they had and raised nine children.

Education

West Technical High School - Cleveland, Ohio.
Graduate of USAAF Photo Lab Technician School - Lowry Field, Colorado.
Graduate of Aerial Photo School - Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Awards

On October 28, 2009 he was also inducted into the Ohio Press and Journalism Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH.

Military service

Wynne served 24 months in the Southwest Pacific and the Far East with the 26th Photo Recon Squadron and the 6th Photo Recon Group, and at New Guinea, Biak Island, Luzon, Okinawa, and Korea.
As aerial photographer, he flew 13 combat missions with the 3rd Emergency Rescue Squadron from Biak Island to Ceram, Halmahera, Celebes, Borneo, and Mindanao between September and December 1944.
With the 26th Photo Recon Squadron he also worked as a lab technician and as a camera installer on F-5 Lightning reconnaissance planes.
He was awarded two U.S. Presidential Unit Citations and eight Battle Stars.

Smoky

While stationed on the Island of New Guinea, Mr. Wynne bought a Yorkshire Terrier, which he later named Smoky, from a fellow soldier for two Australian pounds.
Their adventures together ranged from flying in PBY Catalinas to assisting engineers with getting the communications operational at an airbase at Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, where Wynne had Smoky drag a telegraph wire, tied to her collar, under a runway, through a culvert only in diameter, lessed in places by silt. Wynne and Smoky also entertained troops and wounded. After the war, Mr. Wynne brought Smoky back to the United States. After a brief stint in Hollywood, they starred on their own shows on all three television channels Cleveland had at the time.
"Corporal" Smoky died at the age of 14 on February 20, 1957.

Books

Yorkie Doodle Dandy - CO: Top Dog Enterprises, LLC, 1996,