Smoke the Donkey: A Marine's Unlikely Friend

by Cate Folsom, Robert R. Ruark (Foreword)

On a U.S. military base near Fallujah in war-torn Iraq, Col. John Folsom woke up one morning to the sound of a small, scruffy donkey tied up outside his quarters. He was charmed by this scrawny animal with a plaintive expression. Folsom and his fellow Marines took in the donkey, built him a corral and shelter, and escorted him on daily walks. One night, hanging out with the Marines as they relaxed after work, the donkey snatched someone’s lit cigarette and gobbled it up, to the laughter of all. Suddenly, the donkey had a Smoke. More than a conversation topic for troops connecting with families back home, Smoke served as mascot, ambassador, and battle buddy.
 
Smoke the Donkey recounts the strong friendship between Colonel Folsom and this stray donkey and the massive challenges of reuniting Smoke with Folsom in the United States following Folsom’s retirement. After being given to a local sheik, Smoke wandered the desert before Folsom rallied an international team to take him on a convoluted journey to his new home. The team won a protracted bureaucratic battle to move Smoke from Iraq to Turkey, only to face a tougher fight getting him out of Turkey. Once in the States, Smoke became a beloved therapy animal for both children and veterans. Smoke’s story, while tinged with sadness, speaks to the enduring bond between a man and an animal, unbroken by war, distance, or red tape. 

Genres: Animals, Military History, Nonfiction, Biography

288 pages, Hardcover

Published April 1, 2016

About the author

Cate Folsom is in a unique position to write this book because it is her husband’s story, which she watched unfold. Although this is her first foray into book writing, she has worked for more than three decades as an award-winning newspaper editor and reporter for the Omaha World-Herald. She tells the story through her husband’s reminiscences, the rich email correspondence that unfolded as he worked to get Smoke to America and interviews with key characters.

Cate is currently the metro-regional editor for the Omaha World-Herald. Over the course of her 35-year career at the newspaper, she has covered reporting beats including feature writing and the Washington Bureau and has worked over the years as an assignment editor for every news beat, ranging from police and courts to narrative columns and investigative journalism, from statehouse and city hall to Congress, and from military and politics to education and medicine. She has led several award-winning efforts, overseeing topics such as the attempted recall of the Omaha mayor, embedded coverage of National Guard troops in Afghanistan and a year-long analysis of a mass shooting at a local shopping mall.

Member of The Authors Guild and Association of Literary Scholars, Critics and Writers.

Reviews

[Chris]

I'm a sucker for stories about Marines and animals. It's not everyday you read about a donkey and Marines. I know Colonel Folsom and enjoyed the tale his wife superbly crafted about Smoke and his travels. Talk about the way not to get a donkey to the USA. I'm sure John's after-action report would be a long one. Cate tells a great story and you are turning the pages to see what obstacle looms next in the saga of getting Smoke reunited with John. I wish I could have met Smoke because after reading this story you feel like you missed out on a unique and soulful opportunity.

[Brooke]

This story had potential but lacked the spark of some other animal-human stories I've read. I wanted more about the donkey and less about the squabbles between his advocates.

[Lee Tyner]

Missed Opportunity

Smoke has a great story and as a donkey owner I was excited to read this. However, his personality and accomplishments were secondary to most of the book. Rather, there were countless pages of unnecessary detail about regulations, geography, law, and military that went on and on and on.

It seemed that about 70% of the book was a reference manual / daily journal. Way too many pages that had nothing to do with Smoke. Also, why weren’t there interview with Marines for the base? What about interviews with PTSD patients and what Smoke meant to them?

I also didn’t understand why the photos were in the Appendix. Have them in the story as mentioned.

[Jeffrey Williams]

I was greatly disappointed by this book.

The story of Smoke is fascinating. He led a good, albeit brief, life. But the writing needed severe improvement.

This book dealt more with the logistical nightmares associated with bringing the donkey out of Iraq than it did the wartime service or the therapy service with veterans.

More time should have been spent on the interaction between Marines both in country and in Nebraska. We get a basic glimpse of that before we got more rambling red tape bureaucratic ramblings.

A total disappointment.

[Bridget]

Editor please... the never ending saga of exporting/importing emails, paperwork, bribes, setbacks, was monotonous and unnecessary. There really is very little about the title animal when your dragged through red tape. It’s as though one more bribe was to name each and every person included. I adore donkeys and am unimpressed by this

[Barbara]

2.5

[Michelle Tomasek]

What a beautiful story of a friendship that develops in a war zone between a man and a donkey. Smoke the Donkey is a story that will stay with me forever.

[Nancy]

Hee Haw. This is not an April Fool's Day joke. Over $10,000 was spent to get a donkey from Iraq to the States. Fourteen months later the donkey died. Hee Haw.

It is crazy. In what world do people spend nine months tangled in bureaucratic tape and paperwork for a donkey?

Well, the Marines never leave a man behind.

It all started when Fobbits in Iraq presented Col. John Folsom with a donkey. He had joked that if the men ever found a donkey to bring it to him. Folsom was an animal lover and finagled the means to keep and provide the homeless waif, who happened to really like stealing the men's cigarettes, even lighted ones. Hence, his name--Smoke. Folsom discovered that Smoke had an integral role to play in the soldier's lives. Smoke became classified as a therapy animal. To the Marines he was a battle buddy.

When Col. Folsom returned stateside he provided a home for Smoke but after a while he decided to bring his battle buddy to the States. No easy task. But once secured in the U.S.A. Smoke became a great therapy animal for Marines with PTSD, a star promoter, and a real American icon with his own Facebook page. Sadly, his early neglected years left their mark on his health.

The story of Smoke is one more instance proving animals can break through our emotional fences and help us heal and find wholeness.

Written by Col. Folsom's wife Cate, an editor and news writer, the book includes primary sources and details of every step of Smoke's journey out of Iraq. Smoke and Folsom are the heart of the story. I started out enjoying the book but it bogged down when Smoke retreated to the background. I found myself speed reading through the middle.

The story does raise an interesting ethical question: Can we justify costs based only on longevity or also by impact on lives? For those who loved Smoke, what he brought to their lives was priceless.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

[Dragonlady]

Thanks to a couple of chance comments regarding a stray donkey wandering around base, Col. John Folsom was awakened one morning by the insistent braying of said animal which was tied up just outside his sleeping quarters. Immediately the undersized donkey with a distinctive dark stripe across his shoulders, became the talk of Camp al Taqaddum located near Fallujah, Iraq. It seemed that everyone wanted a picture with Smoke who got his name for his appetite for cigarettes, even when lit. Despite the difficulties involved with keeping Smoke on a busy Iraq military base in 2008, John took on the task with determination and love. For many, the little donkey helped maintain links with home and when he became a therapy animal, was a real help to both active duty and veterans.

After John returned home, he never stopped thinking about Smoke, where was he, was he getting adequate food, water and attention? Against huge odds and mountains of bureaucracy, John won the battle to get Smoke into Turkey but the fight didn’t end there. Once again, a bureaucratic nightmare held up getting the little donkey safely to the United States and through it all, John’s love and determination was unwavering. Once home, Smoke quickly became a valuable, much loved therapy animal with a genuine knack for assisting veterans.

This sweetly told, heartfelt account captures the deep bond between John and Smoke and their shared real life story that caught the worldwide attention of children and adults alike. Although poignant and at times a bit bogged down beneath the wealth of detail, this is a stellar, hopeful read for animal lovers of all ages.

[Pamela]

This story is about an "adopted" donkey by a military base in Iraq and the struggle to relocate him in the United States. I had a hard time finishing this book because it read like a list with very little personal feel. I did not feel connected with the donkey or any of the people in the story. "He said and they did and she drove and they waited." I think it could have been much better with more anecdotes and feeling. It did improve in this regard towards the end of the book, but before that was lacking.

[Anna Lenihan]

Well over half the book is the convoluted email chain mess that was getting Smoke to the US. I found myself skipping 10 pages at a time. I would’ve enjoyed far more about Smoke’s adventures once he got to the US.

[Andy]

Loved it. Great story.

[Malia]

Nice Story, sad ending, but nice.