Smoke (donkey)

Smoke, also known as Smoke the Donkey, became a mascot and therapy animal for the United States Marine Corps during the 2003 Iraq War. Marine Colonel John Folsom helped rescue the malnourished Iraqi donkey and built a corral and stable at Camp Taqaddum in Iraq from 2008 to 2009 among the Marines of the 1st Marine Logistics Group who were deployed there. Folsom was able to find a Navy psychologist to designate Smoke as a therapy animal in order to address regulations against keeping the animal on the premises. The donkey became popular with the troops who would send photos to children back home.

In 2011, Smoke traveled half way around the world to the United States, the only donkey to make such a journey. The process to relocate Smoke from Iraq to the United States required senior level diplomatic coordination by multiple countries, and the assistance of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Once in the United States, Smoke lived at Take Flight Farms in Omaha, Nebraska until his death on August 14, 2012 of natural causes.

In 2016, a book was published by University of Nebraska Press about his life – Smoke the Donkey: A Marine's Unlikely Friend, by Cate Folsom.