Comin' to America

In the upper right column of the blog you'll find a link for Operation Baghdad Pups a program to bring home the dogs who had become the loyal companions of our soldiers in Iraq.

Sadly, over the years, permittin' these "war dogs" to accompany their fellow-soldiers home has not usually been approved by the armed services.

Here's the story of the latest effort.

Every American soldier knows that you never leave a buddy behind.

Sergeant Gwen Beberg knows it. So do 30,000 other people who have signed an online petition urging the US Army to show some compassion. The maxim stands even if the buddy is a scruffy dog named Ratchet.

“I just want my puppy home. I miss my dog horribly,” Sergeant Beberg, 28, e-mailed her mother after being separated from Ratchet, whose life she saved by rescuing it from a pile of burning rubbish in May.

The split came after the sergeant was transferred from her base in Iraq in preparation for a return to the United States next month. “I’m coping reasonably well because I refuse to believe that Ratchet has been hurt,” she wrote. “If I find out that he was killed though…well, we just won’t entertain that possibility.”

Military sources on the ground have indicated that the dog is alive.

US soldiers in Iraq are prohibited from bringing home stray dogs but the Department of Defence has made exceptions in the past. Ratchet’s cause has been taken up by Operation Baghdad Pups.

In spite of a huge snafu which made Ratchet miss his flight last Thursday, everythin' seems to be straightened out and Ratchet is comin' to America.

A stray puppy befriended by a US soldier in Iraq has received the green light to move to America to be reunited with his owner.

A rescue operation to fly Ratchet the dog out of Baghdad failed today [October 16], however, partly because of a lack of communication between a pet rescue group and the military. The pet is now set to leave as early as Sunday.

posted by Harrison at 10:28 PM