Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thanksgiving Tear Jerker - Beloved Dog in Afghanistan Comes To America, Reunites With Marine

For me, dogs are among a few of the precious things to be thankful for on earth so this story warmed my heart.

A U.S. Marine in Afghanistan arranged to have his war companion Chloe flown back for a Thanksgiving reunion from a horrible place that treats dogs with contempt as dirty nasty things.  The reason the people of Afghanistan don't like dogs is because they're described in their Muslim Koran as being filthy animals. The photo at left shows the sister of  Marine Corporal Ward Van Alstine welcoming one of the dogs to America. 

"One day, as Corporal Ward Van Alstine, 22, prepared to go on patrol, a dirty, sad-eyed mutt walked up and touched something in him. The shy, brown-and-white pooch, with a dark patch around the nose, was something precious and good surrounded by poverty, hatred and war. The two of them formed an inseparable bond.The dog, named Chloe, is one of 14 stray dogs and one cat that were rescued from Afghanistan this month by the Nowzad Dogs charity and brought back to the United States to live with the soldiers who adopted them." - Marine, Dog to Reunite After Hard Journey For Both - SFGate.com

Americans know just how precious dogs can be. The religious influences such as from the Koran demonstrate how brainwashed people can be to overlook such precious animals as nothing.

These former stray dogs are now home free in America.

The marine's pal Chloe arrives at the San Francisco Int'l Airport as one clean dog.

It must have been tough being in a crate for all those hours on a plane, but nothing compared to being in Afghanistan.

"Chloe began to guard the base and protect the troops, barking when strangers came near.  "She was basically like the mascot, the morale booster," he said. "She slept in my tent, but we all fed her." Nobody from his platoon was killed, but there were casualties all around and the stress of combat sometimes affected him and other soldiers. "Not everybody does well in those types of situations," Van Alstine said. "I think all dogs have that sixth sense. She'd just sit there with us the entire time and, if anyone wasn't doing well, she'd put her head on them and just close her eyes. She was the one thing that no matter how bad the day was she was our best friend."


Sweet Thanksgiving story isn't it?



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