Smokey The Bear! Man wat a Icon! The town I live in threw a HUGE Smashing Smokey the Bear Birthday Bash for him! Signs, cakes, Races, Contests, Food, Singing, and our town has the Largest Standing Statue of Smokey the Bear! and of course we had the mascot there! He looked pretty sweet! Cant get a better icon for forest fire fighting. Happy Belated Birthday Smokey! Forever in our heart!

I LOVE SMOKEY! Always felt happy when traveling with my parents and seeing his sign near forests. Happy birthday big guy!

I believe this is the song..... Smoky the bear ...Smoky the bear...roaring and growling and sniffing the air,,,,he can spot a fire , before it starts to burn , that's why they call him Smoky , that's how he got his name. Happy Birthday Smoky you were my little boys hero in 1979

A wonderful story. The Alamagordo Daily News ran a similar story today. This is about 40 miles from where the bear was originally found. WARNING: never turn your back on a bear - lest you have a bare-behind!

Let the us goverment give him a for ever stamp he did his time happy birthday old pal . doug

Happy Birthday Smokey The Bear ! MySister and I both had your doll when we were little Girls and we playede with it all the time. We saved it for the first born child to one of us and is still being played with I think. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY SMOKEY THE BEAR!

Smokey the Bear was the first book I remember reading when I was little. It made me cry! Happy Birthday Smokey and thanks to all you hard working firemen!

The original Smokey was made in 1944 & named after a NYPD fireman, "Smoky" Joe Martin, who had made a daring rescue in 1922. The LIVE Smokey was a black bear cub found clinging to a burned tree trunk after a forest fire in the Capitan Mountains of Mew Mexico in 1950. His paws & hind legs had been burned. At first he was called Hotfoot Teddy, but soon was named Smokey after the Forest Service's mascot. He came unter the care of NM Ranger ray bell, who, with his family & a couple of vets, cared for the cub, nursing him back to health. The story reached the national news media & Smokey became an instant celebrity, even being featured in Life magazine.

But a family couldn't very well keep a growing black bear in & around their home indefinitely. With the help of the federal govt. Smokey was taken to the Washington, DC national Zoo, where he lived in bear heaven for 26 years. I saw him there, and he was still a huge tourist draw, although he was then a quite large mature black bear who, in typical black bear fashion, mostly ignored the onlookers.

After his 1976 death, his remains were flown by the govt. & buried in the national park named after him near where he was found

I will soon turn 49.i remember the song smokey the bear.i was a junior ranger,even had a badge they would send you.firefighting runs deep in my family..they should put smokey on every channel, everyday.he is a good spokesman..why would he still be around if he wasnt...get it back in the public,teach the kids.give them opportunitys to recieve that badge.they will be proud of...happy birthday SMOKEY.prowling and growling and sniffing the air.he can spot a fire,before it starts to flame.thats why they call him SMOKEY.that is how he got his name