Former Marine Reunites With Dog He Cared For In Iraq
BOSTON (CBS) – A former Marine and his best friend reunited at Logan Airport Friday night.
The wait was agonizing for all parties involved.
More than four hours after he landed, former Marine Cpl. Christopher Smith was through customs, and Dushka was back in his arms.
The two hadn't seen each other since last November. Dushka was only two months old at the time.
After the Marines, Smith volunteered to fight ISIS alongside Kurdish forces in northern Iraq. He found the wild puppy while clearing buildings, fed her and then decided to keep her.
SPCA International saw to it that he did. Their Operation Baghdad Pups program was able to get Dushka out of Iraq and reunite her with her hero as they have for hundreds adopted by all branches of the military.
"Oh it's great. Really, I've been missing her," Smith said. "She always followed me around and she followed me back to the camp one day so I kept her. Built a dog house."
"Every one of them tells the same story, it's what gets them through day to day, missing their families and having to leave her behind is really not something anyone could think about," said Meredith Ayan of SPCA International.
Dushka arrived in Massachusetts earlier this week. Smith, who is originally from Dracut, will now live in Vermont with Dushka.
