Another dog comes to a home from the war in Iraq. Tear alert:

[partylessinOhio]

Dead soldier's family gets pup he held
By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer
13 minutes ago



CONCORD, N.H. - The family of Army Spc. Justin Rollins finally got to hold one of the last things he held. A female puppy the 22-year-old nuzzled the night before his death in a roadside bombing in Iraq frolicked Friday in New Hampshire, completing a nearly 6,000-mile journey that Rollins' family and girlfriend began pushing for after seeing photos of him with a newborn litter.


This photo provided by Rep. Paul Hodes office shows Army Spc. Justin Rollins
with a puppy he found in Iraq. Rollins was killed
by a roadside bomb March 5 in Samarra.

"It was the last bit of happiness Justin had," said Rollins' girlfriend, Brittney Murray.

Rollins and some other soldiers from the 82nd Airborne found the puppies outside an Iraqi police station March 4 but weren't allowed to bring them back into their barracks. Rollins was killed the next day in Samarra.

After Murray saw the photos, she sought help finding the short-haired dog, named Hero as a reminder of the man who planned to propose to her on his next visit home, she and his mother said. U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes contacted the U.S. Central Command, which ordered the 82nd to retrieve the pup and turn it over to delivery company DHL.

Hero arrived Thursday night at Kennedy International Airport in New York, visited a veterinarian and arrived in New Hampshire overnight. The floppy-eared pooch — mostly white, with brown spots along the right side of its muzzle and paws still too big for its 15-pound body — was a hit Friday as she sniffed around Hodes' office, pausing to piddle on the carpet.

Whether the mixed-breed puppy is the one in the photo didn't matter. Several people claimed credit for the dog's name, but everyone agreed it was a fitting tribute to Rollins, whose parents said he was always an animal lover.

"We have a dog and three cats at home. When he was little, they all were on his bed," said his mother, Rhonda.

Rollins was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with a baseball signed by Red Sox player David Ortiz, who met him last summer shortly before Rollins' unit was deployed.

"He really did believe in what he was fighting for," Rhonda Rollins said of her paratrooper son. "I think he'd be thrilled there was a positive story from the negative thing that happened to us. ... He was such a happy-go-lucky guy."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070526/ap_on_re_us/iraq_puppy;_ylt=Anlc.08mo1EWDF2aWWZnumCs0NUE

Bless the beasts and our children:


Tired from a long trip, Hero the dog sits with her new Newport, N.H., family, Skip and Rhonda Rollins and Brittney Murray, in the office of Rep. Paul Hodes, D-N.H. in Concord, N.H. Friday, May 25, 2007. Rollins' son, Army Spc. Justin Rollins, was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq a day after adopting the pup. Hodes assisted in bringing the dog to the United States for Rollins' family.

[MadMaddie]

1. The dog will be loved....and another soldiar will be missed!

RIP!

[Rydz777]

6. Well said.

I am glad for the joy the little dog brings. I just wish that we would bring this miserable war to an end and our troops home alive. Then the joy from puppies would not be mixed with grief.

[bdamomma]

2. if that dog could only talk.

[knowbody0]

3. beautiful, thanks for sharing

too sad for words

[Clark2008]

4. Awww... what a cute little guy!

:kick:

[lse7581011]

5. So Glad!

he's found a loving home!

[emilyg]

7. You did it - i'm crying

very cute pup.

[Solly Mack]

8. Oh, I'm tearing

but it's pure unadulterated hate I'm feeling

(not for the soldier or the dog or the story)

[BrklynLiberal]

9. Off to the greatest page with you.

Could be the same puppy. Heroic effort to bring him home to honor memory of his rescuer.

[BikeWriter]

10. This sucks so damned bad.

[fortyfeetunder]

11. Awwwww

I am speechless in sorrow.

[Maraya1969]

12. That dog is black, white, brown, spotted and not spotted. He's a symbol of unity.

Like everyone is getting along.

[Decruiter]

13. Oh for heaven's sake, you've just quite got to be kidding me here!

This is the best we can do.

God love it, we saved a dog for a dead soldier!

Damn, just damn and damn some more.

This is worse than all the Rosie threads and everything else.

We brought home a damned dog! Wow!~

Mods, please forgive my outrage in advance

[StarryNite]

14. Have a heart

That puppy is helping to hold that family together.

This whole "war" is an outrage but don't begrudge that family what little bit of peace they are getting from that pup.

[treestar]

22. The point is the media is likely to use this story

no doubt to pump up the troops' sacred cow status. This is where the media and the right wing take advantage of your heart so you can't resist. And then we wonder why Congress is so "cowardly" they are afraid to defund the war.

This nation soaks itself in tears and sentimentality. We need to use our heads some and not just our heart. There is always a balance there, but in our country today, we are way overbalanced on the heart side.

[fizzgig]

15. for the love of the gods

come on, do you think this family has had much peace for the last 2-1/2 months? why begrudge them what peace they can get or whatever connection they can feel with their lost loved one?

[Bluebear]

16. Your heart is cold as ice. How sad for you. nt

[SammyWinstonJack]

21. The dog is giving the family some comfort. What's wrong with that?

[partylessinOhio]

17. Thank you all for your positive responses to Hero Justin Rollins' story !

ABC covered the story this morning in a little more detail.

Justin Rollins also served in the Katrina aftermath. There he rescued abandoned pets and worked to reunite them with their owners.

Justin's mother named the puppy, Hero, because she said, "Justin was a hero."

Yes, he was. Whether it is in war or a natural disaster such as a hurricane, animals are caught up in the destruction and aftermath. A young man who tried to help them is a real hero in my book.

I'm so sorry that Justin died in this unnecessary war for that unnamed person who is an impostor. He has left unfinished all the good work he would have continued if he had lived.

I believe Justin is now with the deceased animals at Rainbow Bridge where they wait to be reunited with their owners someday.

:patriot:

[partylessinOhio]

18. Military Mascots:

Military Mascots is a grassroots all volunteer effort dedicated to the assistance of US deployed Service Members who have befriended a Mascot on Foreign Ground.

Mission: To heighten the Morale and support of US Service Members with mascots by offering care packages from "home" and providing them with Veterinarian and Humane Society contacts on their side of the world that may be of guidance in shipping their Mascots home to their families.

This website is designed for any US Service Member with a mascot to be able to find and make contact with folks who may be able to help their adopted friend come to the US to be with their own families prior to their redeployment.

http://www.militarymascots.org/

[janx]

19. Cool!

K&R

[partylessinOhio]

20. I posted the story of "Beans" when he came home to Ohio. Here it is again:

From Iraq to Ohio, Beans the dog finds a home
Oct. 11, 2005; Submitted on: 10/11/2005 10:36:40 AM ; Story ID#: 20051011103640

By Lance Cpl. Ryan M. Blaich, II Marine Expeditionary Force




MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Oct. 11, 2005) -- Not many people find a best friend in a paper sack half way around the world, in a country littered with war and terrorists. But, that is what happened when Marine Cpl. Jeffery A. Boskovitch, a Reserve Marine from Akron, Ohio, decided to befriend a tiny mutt. For some pocket change and little bit of candy, the pup became his. It would have been impossible to guess that this friendship would span half the globe, involve the Commandant of the Marine Corps, a couple of Army generals and a congressman, and pull the heartstrings of thousands of Ohio residents.

Boskovitch, a sniper with 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, found the puppy when he decided to inspect a paper bag carried by an Iraqi boy sometime in June. Inside the bag was a small brown and black dog. He convinced the child to sell the puppy for a quarter and three jellybeans. The boy agreed and Boskovitch called the dog Beans.

Boskovitch and other members of the unit took care of the mutt and declared Beans their unofficial mascot. In a letter to his mother, he wrote, “Beans is so cool.” He emailed photos of Beans to his mother and she began raising money to get Beans to Ohio.

Although Boskovitch grew up around dogs, he always wanted one of his own. According to Boskovitch’s mother, Kathy Wright, he told his girlfriend he wanted to get a dog when he got home from Iraq.

“Jeff always wanted a dog … his own dog. He liked big dogs, something he could wrestle with,” said Wright.

However, Boskovitch did not get off the plane with the rest of the members of 3/25 when they returned to Cleveland Oct. 6.. The young corporal was killed Aug.1 in an ambush attack which left five other Marine snipers dead as well. His wish to get Beans home to Ohio sent his mother on a mission.

“I never meant for Beans to be a replacement for my son. I just felt I had to honor his request,” Wright said.

When the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Michael W. Hagee, visited the families of the fallen warriors Aug.12 and asked if their was anything he could do, Wright showed him the picture of her son with Beans.

“‘Please help me get this dog home,’” Wright said she plead. “He smiled and said he would do whatever he possibly could.”

Hagee stood by his word and established “Operation Beans.” Finding Beans, however, proved to be more difficult than first imagined. Marines of 3/25 were hiding Beans.

“Finding Beans took a little while because the boys were hiding her. They were scared that if she was discovered, they’d have to get rid of her,” Wright said.

Wright stayed steadfast, never giving up hope, knowing the dog was there somewhere. Hagee was determined as well, directing his staff to get everything worked out.

“If Beans can comfort the mother of a fallen Marine, then it is our pleasure to help,” said Hagee’s spokesman.

Referring to Hagee, Wright said, “He was so polite, compassionate and sincere. I know generals are busy and are used to barking out orders, but he wasn’t a general, he was a gentleman,”

After a month and a half of phone calls and appealing to whoever would listen, everyone’s persistence paid off. Beans was on her way to a new home. The logistics were all worked out, and the Marines would fund the flight for Beans to arrive aboard Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., via Spain, or so everyone thought.

Days before her scheduled flight home, Beans would again face uncertainty. Orders to fly Beans across the world were not signed and the Army would not sign a waiver.

Wright, disheartened, called everyone she could think of, including Ohio Congressman, Dennis J. Kucinich. Once again, her determination proved triumphant. Beans was soon to be hers … finally.

Wright credits Hagee, his staff, U.S. Army Generals George W. Casey and John P. Abizaid, and Congressman Kucinich for making her son’s wish come true.

“It was a joint effort among the Marines, the Army and even the Air Force, because Beans flew to North Carolina on a C-5. I just want to thank everyone. General Hagee, General Casey, General Abizaid, my congressman and all the many people I don’t even know,” Wright said.

Beans finally arrived at Cherry Point on Oct. 5. She made a trip to Camp Lejeune later that evening to spend a final night with her friends in 3/25.

Sgt. Derrick Moore, an Embark Chief from Brook Park, Ohio, volunteered to pick Beans up at Camp Lejeune and fly back with her.

“I know it means so much to Mrs. Wright. I felt it was an honor to pick up Beans and deliver Beans to her,” said Moore.

Beans arrived in Ohio around 1:30 pm. on Friday.

“It was bittersweet. I knew Jeff wasn’t getting off the plane, but I was so happy to have Beans,” Wright said.

Beans was thin and seemed tired, but Wright said she had to take her to visit Jeffery before anything else.

“I took her to Holy Cross Cemetery where Jeff is buried. That was the first thing we did. I wanted him to see that she was here. Then I asked Jeff, ‘Now what?’” Wright recalled.
As of Friday, Beans was getting checked out by the vet and taking a break from all the attention.

“She may have sand ticks or sand fleas. I mainly just wanted her to rest,” said Wright.

Wright says she is not sure if dogs should be a part of a unit or not. She was sure there were many stories about Beans and her time spent with 3/25. She heard that Beans was a part of several missions, including alerting the unit to an ambush attempt.

Whether Beans deserves to pin on a rank is questionable. For now, she said she was just happy to finally have Beans with her.

“I’m the type of person who follows the rules. If the rules say ‘no dogs,’ then I stand by that. I wouldn’t want it to cause distractions or diseases. But, the reality is that people care for loving animals,” said Wright.

There are numerous stories left untold by veterans who had reluctantly left their four-legged friends behind, but not this one. A friendship forged at war formed a mother’s will. The mother’s will tested a general’s commitment. The general’s commitment had, in the end, honored a warrior’s final wish. Welcome to the United States, Beans.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/14E58B7BB36C65D78525709700504308?opendocument



Beans in Iraq with Lance Cpl. Jeff Boskovitch



Beans in America!

[peacebaby3]

23. I read this yesterday. It's a beautiful story. n/t

[wicket]

24. It won't bring their loved one back, but it'll give them comfort for years to come

:patriot:

[kenny blankenship]

25. We got a lot of love for that dog-if only we had as much love for our troops

We'd bring them home tomorrow. For some reason though, even with GIs dying every day, this country won't lift a finger to save their lives.

One man stands in our way.

[partylessinOhio]

26. Yes, that thing wouldn't bring a dog home if he had his way.

Fortunately the dogs didn't "volunteer" so he can't use it against them.

Our best hope is to impeach * and bring our troops home immediately.

The Iraqi people are quite capable of governing themselves but * won't let them because that would mean he would have to give up his illegal claim to their oil.