Saturday, April 5, 2008

Reunited!!!

Well this past week has been pretty awesome. The main reason for that is because of a cute little 4 legged friend that I have been able to spend time with again, CHARLIE! Last weekend, I finally was able to make the trip up to Washington DC to reunite with our dog that we had brought back from Iraq. He had been in the States since Feb 14th, and it had been almost a month and a half since I had seen him and was anxiously awaiting this day.

When I finally got to the house and started to go around back to see him, he was already waiting by the fence. I had left Thursday immediatly after work so I was still in my ACUs, and when I got close enough for him to see my face, he stopped, looked up at me and if for a minute he had this look on his face like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. After a couple seconds of him taking it all in, he went crazy! Once I got in through the gate and was able to be next to him, he was SO excited. I had never seen him this excited ever before. He was flying through the air over and over again, to jump on me and lick my furiously. He would run away, then come flying back at me time and time again. It was awesome to see him so excited. I took the time to try and wear him out and we played with many toys in the backyard until he used up all of his energy and I could pet him and hug him like I wanted to. It was very surreal seeing him clean and in America. He was so clean it was unbelivable. The only Charlie I had known was the one that lived outdoors at the outpost and was usually covered in a good amount of dirt and typical Iraqi Muhallah filth. So to see him clean, with his white fur, brillantly white was a shock. But I took it all in and was just so happy to be back with him again.

I ended up staying the night there just outside of DC and the next morning I decided to take Charlie on a walk around all the monuments before we headed back to Ft Bragg. We wern't able to go right up to a few of them, but it was definatly cool to be able to see them and I can only imagine what was going through his head seeing such amazing monuments after most of all he has know was the slums of Baghdad. We had a great time and many people stopped to comment on how cute he was and to pet and play with him. He is amazing with other dogs and other people and he loves all the attention. He also walks perfectly on a leash which is mind boggeling. After a couple hours, we piled in to the car to begin the 6 hour journey back home. For the most part he slept in the back seat, only to get up every rest stop so we could walk around and drink some water.

Once I got back there were several people that immediatly wanted to see him. It was great being able to reunite the guys with our companion, but the greatest reunion came from a guy who was not expecting to see him. Back in October, in a situation that I had blogged slightly about, his platoon was part of a semi-large mission in to the bad Sunni area by our AO durring Ramadan, the largest Muslim holiday, also known for the most violence. He was a part of a dismounted squad that ended up walking in to an ambush, where many of the guys were injuried. He was one of the more severe injuries, and had taken a round through his knee. It was the type of injury that took him out of the game and he had been sent back here to Bragg. So he had no clue that Charlie was coming home or anything and had pretty much expected that he was never going to see him again. It must have been tough because he definatly loved and cared for that dog with the best of us.

I had taken Charlie back to the barracks to reunite with another guy and we were talking about how this guy would be happy to see him and literally at that moment he was walking from the parking lot. I yelled for him to come over and he took one look at Charlie and couldn't belive his eyes. The amazing thing is that after all that time, Charlie remebered him like it was just yesterday and he was acking just as crazy as when I had first seen him in DC. It was awesome seeing how happy the 2 of them were to see each other again and I can only imagine the suprise going through his head to see Charlie, the dog from Iraq, back in America.

Other than that we have been doing pretty good. A lot of people have had the chance to see him and Im sure over time more and more will eventually do so. We are doing great and somehow Charlie is already house-broken. He hasn't had a single incident as far as that goes. He is truly an amazing dog in so many ways and its awesome to have him back again!


Digg this story! Add to del.icio.us! Subscribe to this feed!

25 comments:

Arli said...

Ok, so the tears are streaming down my face as I type. So very, very excited for you, and for Charlie. May your deterimination in getting Charlie to the USA bring you, and all of Charlie's buddies, many years of happiness. There's something special about a man and his dog. Please post more pictures!

Anonymous said...

What great news! I'm glad you two are back together and that Charlie is making others happy as well. Thanks for the update!

stuffed said...

Awesome! Congrats. :0)

Haole Wahine said...

Okay, you gotta stop making us cry, even if they are tears of overwhelming joy.

thanks for the VetsForFreedom banner. A pretty awesome bunch.

It's fantastic knowing the job all of you have done. Thanks do not even begin to cover the debt America owes all of you.

I'm very proud of all of you. Very Proud.

Texas Out

Long-time RN said...

One amazing dog! Lucky Charlie to have someone move mountains to bring him to the U.S. and have this great group of guys care for him. I'm with haole wahine, a kleenex worthy tale!
All the best!
Cathy B

cajenki said...

YAY!!! I can't wait for this summer when you guys come home to Phoenix! Glad Charlie and you are doing well.. love you!

David M said...

The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the blog post - From the Front: 04/06/2008 - News and Personal dispatches from the front lines.

Anonymous said...

Its good to see something good come from that wasteland.

Anonymous said...

Just grinnin' here ear to ear :D Solo

Miss Ladybug said...

Dogs are amazing creatures, aren't they? It doesn't surprise me to read that Charlie remembers y'all. My grandparents had a German shepherd when I was little. They were in Austin and Daddy was stationed in San Antonio, so me and Angel played together a lot. We PCS'd to Germany for 4 years, and when we got back and visited with my grandparents, Angel remembered me. Great story!

Anonymous said...

I salute you both.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Arli "there's something special about a man and his dog." I'm happy this "feel good" story came true!

Airborne dad said...

Best news I have heard in a long time. Should have been a CNN moment so we could have all seen it.

Heartwarming story. Congrats to all involved.

Anonymous said...

Ain't it great to be back in the United States with your dog? I'm glad that y'all are home. Welcome back!

Anonymous said...

Congrats, it is a great feeling to be reunited with all of your friends and family. what a great reunion and a great feeling.

membrain said...

That's just great news Eddie. I'm really glad for you and the guys and Charlie of course.

I was following the Vets For Freedom tour at Blackfive and Uncle Jimbo mentioned running in to you there. Good stuff.

Take care.

Some Soldier's Mom said...

what a great story! the love you take is equal to the love you make... obviously, that dog gets a lot of love and he's so happy to give it back! so that is one lucky dog!!

Maeve said...

What a great story. Dogs are amazing, I like to call them "love sponges" because they soak up all the love.
They also give unconditional love too.

eMOM said...

What a fantastic story! I love it. What an amazing bond too. I'm going to share this story with some of my friends. They are going to love to hear this. All the best to you.

On a side note, I hope you won't mind me sharing this with you but I thought you might be interested in what we've got going on to support our troops.

eMail Our Military's gearing up for another great support project for our troops, this time for Mother's Day. Since our troops are serving across the globe, I thought this would be a great way to help them connect with their moms back home in a really sweet, personal and fun way.

Our troops can write a note or make a simple card for mom and then snap a pic of it with their digital camera or mobile phone. Then just upload it to Qipit.com where it will be turned into a crisp, clear .PDF for sharing with mom.

What's I think is so cool about this is that it's free, and it cleans up the text so it doesn't look like a camera phone shot - Best of all it's an immediate way to send a personal note with a whole lot of love across the world.

This would also be a great way for kids who are separated from their military moms to say Happy Mother's Day with a homemade card right to mom's email address without the need for a scanner, etc.

I think it's a pretty neat little project and we're really excited about sharing it with our military and those who support them.

Trish
eMailOurMilitary.com
Supporting our military, one email at a time!

ABNPOPPA said...

It's wonderful to see some war stories have a happy ending. Give Charlie a pat on the head for me.

Hope you keep blogging when you write your book.

Good Luck,
ABNPOPPA

Wolf Lover Girl said...

Just amazing. Gotta go wipe my tears away. Glad you were able to see your dog again.

~ Wolf Lover Girl

Long-time RN said...

Thinking about you (and Charlie)and saying thanks to you and all those who serve in our military as well as the families who stand in support.
Cathy B

Ana Tapadas said...

Pois é! Pense no que o rodeia!

Anonymous said...

thats awesome!! Congrats to you and Charlie!

Brian H said...

What a reunion!

But really, what is this "furiously" that you allowed Charlie to lick? "to jump on me and lick my furiously." Was painful? Or did it tickle? ;)