The last thing on U.S. Marine Brandon Caroll’s mind was adopting a puppy when he was deployed in Georgia country.
He and his team came upon a mother dog who had just given birth to six puppies. They could not ignore the dog family because it was winter, and the dogs looked cold. They obviously could not fend for themselves.
The soldiers loaded the dogs into the jeep and brought them to their base. They took care of the mother dog and her puppies. Soon, Brandon started to spend more time with one of the puppies.
Brandon started calling the puppy Lady. As he spent time with Lady, he grew more attached to her. Their bond became stronger with each passing day. Lady made him feel less lonely and homesick.
Brandon’s deployment eventually came to an end, and he had mixed emotions as he prepared to go home. He was happy because he would be seeing his family soon. At the same time, he felt sad that he could not take Lady with him. He squeezed in as much time as he could with Lady on the day before he left.
The military had rules prohibiting soldiers from transporting animals from overseas, so Brandon enlisted the help of a nonprofit organization called SCPA International. Through the organization’s program called Operation Baghdad Pups: Worldwide, Lady was reunited with Brandon.
Lady fit in right away with Brandon’s family. His wife absolutely loved her from the start and spoiled her at every available opportunity. She wanted to look for another name. However, they settled for Lady because it suited her well.
Lady’s siblings were all adopted by the other marines as well. If Brandon and his team had not found them that day, they might not have lasted the winter. Thanks to the marines, they all had warm homes and loving families.
Screenshot from scpa_international via Instagram
