Laia makes it to her new home
You may remember that last week we found out that arrangements were being made to ship back to the States from Iraq, Laia, the dog which belonged to Major Steven Hutchison, the Vietnam veteran who was killed in Iraq last month.
Thanks to an observant reader, I can report that Laia is with her new family;
A fallen soldier’s five-month-old dog arrived on American soil Monday afternoon, allowing mourning loved ones to see the puppy princess that kept Major Steven Hutchison so happy in Iraq.
The Vietnam Veteran and Army Major left behind a piece of himself in his dog, Laia. The soldier’s team found her at the young age of six weeks old. She had a broken back hind leg, which they casted. Hutchison decided to name her in honor of Princess Leia from “Star Wars,” his favorite movie. From that moment forward, she had him wrapped around her paw.
“I probably shipped over $300 worth of supplies to him for the dog… dog food, collars, leashs, bowls, deworming medication, all kinds of stuff,” says Richard, who flew in from Phoenix, Ariz., along with his wife, Steven’s sister-in-law, Nancy to meet the dog.
“He lived for that dog,” says Nancy. “He loved her.”
Actually, I thought I’d get an eye witness account of the story since I know the person who arranged for the Laia’s transport (you know him, too), but the account never came to fruition. Since that person is a regular reader at This Ain’t Hell, maybe he can regale us with the tale in the comments – because here at This Ain’t Hell, we love dog stories with happy endings.
Category: Blue Skies, Support the troops
This wouldn’t be someone over at Blackfive would it?
what a kewl dog.
We had a similar instance of this type of thing in my hometown last year: a GI died in combat and his mom and platoon buds tried…successfully…to bring the guy’s adopted dog home. Me and some of my people tried to work through Soldier’s Angels to score a supply of kibble for the pooch but we never could get the soldier’s mom to respond to us. That’s not in any way a dig of course coz she had lots on her mind at that time, so instead we bought up some ship-out backpacks in memory of the soldier who I am somewhat ashamed to say I cant remember just now. But i remember and honor his service and mission.
The upshot folks is that if a dog belonging to a soldier killed in action comes to your hometown, do what you can to honor the soldier by helping his family raise the pup.
that is all.