For a wounded soldier home from Afghanistan, it was a special reunion a long time in the making.

A puppy he adopted on the front lines is now with him again in Bethesda, Md.

Donny Eslinger, 20, encountered the dog while on tour of duty in Afghanistan. He traded three cigarettes to become the dog’s owner. He named the dog Smoke Pup Barbarian because of the transaction.

A mortar attack critically wounded Eslinger in September 2011. He was in treated at the Kandahar Airfield Hospital for a broken leg, broken ribs and multiple internal injuries. When Eslinger was later flown to Germany and then the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for more treatment, Smoke was left behind.

A group called The Puppy Rescue Mission heard about Smoke Pup when Eslinger’s squad leader sent a letter telling Eslinger’s story. The group printed part of that letter on its website:

“Smoke was the only bit of morale that made these kids forget where they were and cope with the tragedy we just experienced. It is amazing how therapeutic a little creature can be. Donny took care of that dog up until he was injured. Many of us in his Platoon would love nothing more than to see Smoke reunited with Donny. It would be the only decent thing we would see come from this place.”

Through the efforts of The Puppy Rescue Mission, the dog arrived in Orlando, Fla., last week.

The dog was then transported to Bethesda on Tuesday, where he was reunited with Eslinger.

Dox, center, and Lyon, right, were killed in May during an operation carried out by Military Police.

BRAZIL — Quick, determined and with impeccable senses of smell and hearing, Dox and Lyon lost their lives during a recent police operation.

The two dogs were fatally shot while pursuing suspects in a forest near the city of Ribeirão das Neves on behalf of the Minas Gerais Military Police on May 17.

As soon as the trained German Shepherds located the hiding criminals, they started barking to alert officers they had located the suspects.

“One of the fugitives fired nine rounds and five hit Dox and four hit Lyon,” says Capt. Paulo Roberto Alves, commander of the Minas Gerais Military Police (PMMG) Shock Brigade, where the dogs had trained and served. “They gave their lives to protect police officers.”

But the PMMG took an extra step to honor their canine colleagues.

The courage shown by Dox and Lyon, who had been on the force for six and two years, respectively, inspired the organization to create a Hall of Heroes.

It’s expected to be built this year at the headquarters of the PMMG’s 1st Company for Special Missions, in Contagem.

The hall will contain the ashes of dogs lost in service, as well as plaques and their photographs.

Dox and Lyon will be the first enshrined.

The dogs also were the first to be cremated by the PMMG, on May 20. Prior to their cremation, the officers spent a few minutes with the Dox and Lyon’s remains, paying respect to their fallen heroes.

“It was one of the saddest moments of my life,” says Officer Luís Antônio de Castro Maciel, who was assigned to work with Dox five years ago. “It was like he was family to me.”

Officer Welly Lucindo, who was assigned to work with Lyon more than two years ago, says he “lost a friend.”

“What happened was a real tragedy,” he says. “I’m never going to forget him.”

Alves says the 16 dogs assigned to the unit are considered police officers.

“They train, they’re registered and they work just like any other officer,” he says. “In addition, they learn to give their lives if necessary.”

Police dogs are an invaluable resource when conducting operations, Alves says.

“In dense forests, 70% of the operation depends on the dogs, and only 30% on the human officers,” he adds. “They’re essential.”

“The dogs are one step ahead of the human officers in terms of speed, because of their body types; in hearing, because they can detect infrasound and ultrasound; and in their sense of smell, because they possess somewhere around 200 million olfactory cells, while a human, on average, has around 5,000,” says Sgt. Marcelo Piovesan, who heads the technical training of the War Dogs at the Army Police’s 5th Company in Curitiba in the state of Paraná.

The Federal Highway Police (PRF) in Paraná said the dogs’ performances played a major role in the department’s recent success in its fight against narcotics. The results of the PRF’s operations in Paraná enabled the state lead the nation in crack and marijuana seizures.

“Three police officers would take between 15 to 30 minutes to inspect the baggage on a passenger bus,” says Leonel Weng, a police officer who works with the PRF police dogs. “In two minutes, a dog can let you know if there are drugs on the scene.”

Brazilian Police pay their respects to Dox and Lyon.

Brazilian Police pay their respects to Dox and Lyon.

ROMULUS, Mich., (WXYZ) – A few dog treats, a game of fetch and the sound of friendly voices are what finally led to the safe recovery of a former bomb-sniffing dog that recently worked to secure the U.S. Capitol and the White House.

About 12 hours on the run, Officers from Romulus Police, the Airport and Romulus Animal Control were able to coax the five-year-old specially trained German Shepherd named Arco back into a collar and leash.

Late Monday night, Arco got away from his new owner, Sheri Schumann, on airport property after slipping out of his collar.

Arco had just flown from Arizona to Metro-Detroit to meet Schumann, but shortly after Schumann attached a leash to Arco’s collar to let him relieve himself after the long flight, he slipped out of that loose collar.

It’s believed the stress of the long flight from Arizona and other unfamiliar circumstances caused Arco to run.

We’re told Arco was set to be euthanized after killing a cat while working in Washington D.C. as a bomb-detection dog, but Arco was rescued by a group in Arizona and he was being flown to Schumann on Monday.

An officer with the Airport Authority and a Romulus Police officer both sustained dog bites during earlier attempts to capture Arco.

The Romulus officer had to have stitches.

After 10 days in quarantine, Romulus Animal Control officers say Arco will be released to Schumann who resides in Toledo.

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) speaks at a press conference on military dog legislation in Hartford Wednesday morning.

CONNECTICUT — Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) discussed legislation recently in Hartford that would benefit military working dogs after their service on the battlefield is over.

“Military working dogs routinely patrol ahead of the line — put in harm’s way to protect our troops,” Blumenthal said Thursday. “They show extraordinary strength and loyalty every day in saving the lives and limbs of our war fighters on the battlefield. These courageous comrades help detect and disarm roadside bombs and IEDs — some of the deadliest threats to our troops.”

The bipartisan legislation would improve the adoption process for retired military working dogs. They are currently classified as equipment in the military, which leaves “the dogs’ adopters or individual military units to bear the cost of transportation,” according to a press release from Blumenthal’s office.

In the new legislation, all dogs would be transferred to the 341st Training Squadron at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. The retired military dogs would travel to “the base by commercial air by using donated travel benefits also used to facilitate the travel of our service members,” according to the release.

A Retired Military Working Dogs Veterinary Care Fund would be set up for donations that will provide care for the animals.

“Retired military working dogs often continue to serve at home in offering companionship and care to war fighters,” Blumenthal said. “For their service abroad, these dogs deserve their loyalty and dedication to be returned when they are home.”

The bill would also would allow the Department of Defense to honor military dogs for their service to this country, the release stated.

“The Connecticut National Guard is proud of the fact we are the only state where a unit of the reserve component owns and operates a military working dog unit,” said Maj. Gen. Thaddeus J. Martin, Adjutant General and Commander of the Connecticut National Guard. “This is just the right thing to do for both our soldier handlers and their hard-working battle buddy.”

The dog, 6, arrived on a flight from Arizona and got loose when it was let out to relieve itself, Romulus Police Lt. Josh Monte said.

It’s been on the run since shortly before midnight.

Police last spotted Arco — a retired bomb-sniffing dog that once worked at the White House —near Metro Airport around 5:30 a.m. and say they believe the animal is still in the area.

Officers advised the public not to approach the dog and to call 911 if they see it.

“It’s already bit two police officers, so we don’t want to take any chances,” Monte said.

One of those officers had to get stitches for a wound to his hand. The dog broke free from his collar when the officer went to grab it, Monte said.

As a precaution, officers this morning kept watch at schoolbus stops as children boarded.

The dog was transported to Metro to be united with a new owner, police said.

Memorial Service for Lucky.

Luck is truly a hero among men! RIP Lucky.

Airmen of the 92nd Security Forces Squadron at Fairchild Air Force Base paid their respects Thursday to one of their own.

Lucky, a military working dog, survived five tours of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan.

He succumbed to cancer last September at age 10, surviving two previous diagnoses of the disease.

Several dozen service members gathered for a morning memorial service in the base community center.

An orange box with Lucky’s ashes sat next to his portrait atop a travel kennel.

Maj. Garon Shelton, squadron commander, said Lucky saved countless service personnel, sniffing out explosives and securing their missions.

Lucky had a reputation as the hardest-hitting among the seven to eight dogs stationed at Fairchild. “He could take anyone down to the ground,” Shelton said during the service.

He became a media star following his survival from two previous bouts of cancer and received a Hometown Heroes award from the American Red Cross in 2010.

He was in Kyrgyzstan completing his fifth tour when his latest handler, Staff Sgt. Chris Fall, discovered a new tumor on his rear left leg last Aug. 20, five days before their return to Fairchild.

The tumor grew quickly. Lucky was moved to a veterinary center at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, where he died Sept. 30, Fall said.

“It was pretty tough,” Fall said of Lucky’s death, acknowledging the close relationship between military working dogs and soldiers.

“He’s in doggie heaven,” Fall said. “He’s probably running around all day eating doggie bones.”

A Belgian Malinois, Lucky was known for his keen nose and no-nonsense tenacity. The dog was cool under fire and could close on a fleeing suspect with a burst of speed, traits that run deep in this favored sheepdog breed.

Lucky underwent training at age 1 at the Department of Defense Military Working Dog School at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

Military dogs train throughout their careers with their handlers.

Lucky arrived at Fairchild in July 2003 and worked with nine handlers during his career.

In 2008, Lucky sniffed out an explosive device fastened to a generator at a forward base in Afghanistan, averting potential disaster.

In another incident, Lucky and a squad of soldiers survived an improvised bomb attack on a road in Iraq.

During his time at Fairchild, Lucky provided protection for presidential, vice presidential and congressional visits. Lucky was also called out on 31 emergency events locally, including bomb threats.

The soldiers said Lucky, like other military working dogs, was absolutely fearless and would sacrifice his life for them.

At Fairchild, Lucky befriended a female Malinois, Dakota, who was at Lucky’s memorial service. She was described as Lucky’s girlfriend.

All of the working dogs are recognized when their careers end, either through a retirement ceremony or a memorial if they die on duty.

During the service, Chaplain Capt. Craig Nakagawa said, “This dog was capable of love and therefore had a soul.”

Sadly, Major Shelton said, cancer was the “final and only battle he would lose.”

Below is a video of Lucky training in Afghanistan.

HOUSTON — Animal rescue organizations have helped U.S. troops, contractors, and government employees bring home more than 200 stray and adopted dogs from Afghanistan this year. Monday brought a new wrinkle to that process. A Marine welcomed home a dog he’d never even met.

The happy ending was supposed to be for a dog named “Bill,” the lone survivor of a litter of puppies that was nursed back to health and raised by members of the Lone Star Battalion. Sgt. Jon Staffen became the most attached to the Afghan mutt.

“It’s funny looking back on it, but at the time it was genuine. You know he was like our little son,” said Staffen.

And their son proved irresistible. A website brought in $12,000 in donations to care for Bill at an animal shelter in Kabul and pay for his eventual transport to Pakistan and then to the United States. But Bill never made the trip. He never left Afghanistan. He died of parvo in November.

“Bill was a fighter. He survived as a 9-day-old puppy in Afghanistan. Kind of hoping he’d pull through,” said Staffen. “But it was a bad disease.”

But what do you do with all that money and all the good intentions from hundreds of donors? A Marine doesn’t quit until the mission is over.

Staffen, who had already paid several rescue groups to assist in Bill’s rescue, asked the shelter in Kabul if there was another dog he could have: another one that might die if the Marines didn’t bring him home. The shelter said they had an injured dog, a dog with a limp that they named “Limpy.” A dog crate, with the misspelled name “Lampy” written on it, arrived at Bush Airport Monday afternoon.

“Your crate is filthy, you know that,” said Staffen, leaning close to a little brown dog that had just made the 20-hour journey to Houston. A second crate held a larger, white Afghan dog destined for the home of a Navy corpsman.

Staffen said the trend of troops bringing adopted dogs home from the war is an attempt to fight their bad memories of the conflict by bringing home something good.

But while Staffen laughed as he took his new dog for its first run on American soil, he quickly found out he’ll have to throw out suggested names like “Bill” or “Bo.”
His new dog he’s decided to call “Holly.”

“She seems really smart. And she was staying with me while I was walking with her,” he said.

Holly is a girl.

“Yeah, it’s a she,” he said of the unexpected surprise.

The Marines hoped that “Bill,” the puppy they raised from birth, the one that gave them hope in a dangerous place, would be repaid with a new lease on life in Texas. That didn’t happen. Instead, the war in Afghanistan has a new survivor with a new best friend: a Lone Star Marine.

“Raise [her] in a place that’s not so hostile where [she] can actually lead a fulfilling life—just as I would have done for Bill, you know,” said Staffen.

Staffen said the additional money donated to bring “Bill” home from Afghanistan has been donated to non-profit groups helping to rescue additional animals in that country.

Rest In Peace, Bill. The Lone Star Battalion Will Never Forgot You!

It was an overcast day in Newport, N.H., when a simple “20/20? shoot turned into something that made me wonder about life after death.

I was filming soldier Justin Rollin’s parents Skip and Rhonda playing with their dog Hero, whose rescue from the Iraq War zone where Justin died was nothing short of a miracle.

Sometimes when Rhonda hugged Hero she would softly pet her face and coo, “Justin, are you in there?” It was Rhonda’s gentle way of remembering their son and his last living connection to Hero. At one point, Hero wandered off and took a stroll in the backyard. All of a sudden, the clouds broke and a light began to solidify in a beam directly down on Hero — a kind of vertical halo.

As this dramatic ray of light was shining on Hero she turned to look at me, and it was all I could do to hold the camera steady and not drop it in astonishment. It was an unforgettable moment, and made me wonder if in fact Justin was in there. Then the light vanished.

I couldn’t wait to check my camera’s playback to see if it caught the stunning beam. When I saw that it did, I was so happy that I burst out dancing. It was a great moment to share with Justin’s parents. We all laughed together, and wondered if perhaps this had been a sign from Justin.

When asked about the special homecoming with his companion, the Marine offered that “It doesn’t matter… how much you’ve screwed up in your life, you know, your dog is always your best friend.”

Heart-warming video of the marine‘s reunion with man’s best friend can be see below, courtesy of Fox and Friends:

U.S. troops in Afghanistan are relying more and more on the noses of military working dogs to sniff out deadly improvised explosive devices (IEDs). These highly trained dogs landed in the spotlight recently when it was learned that Cairo, a Belgian Malinois, was part of the team that raided Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan.

These dogs have proven to be so valuable that two new programs — one in the Army and the other in the Marine Corps — will be funded for the next two years to put more dogs on the front lines alongside the troops who patrol Afghanistan’s treacherous hills and valleys.

About 725 military working dog teams are currently deployed in the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) area of operations, said Richard A. Vargus, chief of the law enforcement branch at CENTCOM. Most of the 725 teams are in Afghanistan.

To boost troops’ capabilities in Afghanistan, the Department of Defense is funding the Tactical Explosive Detector Dog, or TEDD program in the Army and the IED Detector Dog, or IDD program in the Marine Corps. Under these programs, infantrymen from deploying units are selected to undergo a minimal training cycle to learn how to handle a military working dog.

The goal of both programs will be to put more dogs out on patrol and potentially save more troops’ lives, Vargus said.

“In the military working dog program, the canine is expendable; that’s why it’s there,” he said.

But the increasing reliance on the abilities of these highly trained dogs also means some dogs will be killed or wounded in the line of duty.

Since 2002, under 30 military working dogs have been killed in action. Many in the Armed Forces believe that the death count in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is at about 7500, would be double that or more without the help of bomb sniffing dogs. That’s a possible 10,000 families that didn’t have to lose a loved one.

In addition, incidents of canine post-traumatic stress disorder are on the rise, Vargus said. To get a better handle on it, the Army continues to work with dog teams stationed around the world to gather data and conduct more research.

If a dog does exhibit canine PTSD symptoms, 90 percent of the time they’ll undergo a re-acclimation period to see if they can be retrained and returned to duty.
Despite these canine health issues however, Vargus says he expects an indefinite need for strong military working dog teams.

“We’ll always have a requirement to have canine assets to counter IEDs because IEDs are here to stay,” he said. “We need a solid, stood-up force to support the war fighter.