Smedley Butler returns to Marine boot camp -- as a bulldog mascot

Smedley Butler is returning to the Marine boot camp here.

Not the Smedley Butler who was the camp’s commander in the 1920s and, as a two-time Medal of Honor recipient, remains one of the Marine Corps’ premier heroes. This Smedley Butler is a 10-week-old English bulldog, the latest to serve as the boot camp’s official mascot.

Smedley Butler replaces Belleau Wood, who retired in April and is living with a family in Temecula.

Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler is credited with introducing the English bulldog as the official mascot of the Marine Corps after World War I. The San Diego boot camp’s first English bulldog mascot was James Jolly Plum Duff.

As the mascot, the bulldog Smedley Butler will attend family day events, motivational runs and graduation ceremonies, along with recruiting events. As a pup, he is listed as a recruit; when Belleau Wood retired, he was listed as a corporal.

A previous mascot was taught to salute and also to bark at the word “reporter.”