Author Topic: No Buddy Left Behind  (Read 1899 times)

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Offline rickl

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No Buddy Left Behind
« on: May 26, 2011, 09:26:53 PM »
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U.S. warriors hold tightly to some very distinct ideals. One of the most revered is that no one gets left behind.

So it should come as no surprise that Marine Corporal Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo didn’t want to leave her new best friend, Burt, in Iraq when her tour with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Unit ended.

Sure, Burt was loud and opinionated, but he was special. For the only female Marine in the unit, he was a non-judgmental shoulder to cry on and provided much needed support throughout her deployment. “Sometimes, even though you’re one of the guys, it’s hard for them to relate to you when something happens and you need comfort,” Kirk-Cuomo, a combat photographer, said. “I returned after a really bad day and was feeling like I wasn’t going to make it to the end of the deployment, and then I heard that voice. Burt was outside the tent screaming hello at me and telling me to get my butt outside and say hello back. I hadn’t seen him in weeks and I just about broke down seeing those gold eyes in the fading light that night,” she added. “I think I sat out in the dirt with him for hours and he never left me.”

Obviously Burt is a very unusual friend. But he’s not your typical friend. He is a cat—a beautiful orange tabby with big gold eyes. And he was Kirk-Cuomo’s unofficial therapist.

Read the whole thing.  You won't regret it.



/hat tip 1389AD
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Offline Libertas

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Re: No Buddy Left Behind
« Reply #1 on: May 27, 2011, 06:58:23 AM »
 :'(

Good stories.

I also wish people here took better care of their pets, too many imbeciles abondon them and if not adopted...well, that fate should happen only to the imbecile, not the victim!
We are now where The Founders were when they faced despotism.

Offline Miltrainer

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Re: No Buddy Left Behind
« Reply #2 on: May 27, 2011, 02:58:04 PM »
The photo of the dog looks just like the a dog that belonged to a unit I was attached to during the first Gulf War. We named him "Stormin Norman" of course. Had another mutt hang around us at a check point in the middle of nowhere Iraq. He was a great guard dog. Funny ho he disliked anyone who wasn't in a U.S uniform. Unfortunately, he got hit by a car and we had to put him down. Talk about a hard thing to do. Almost felt like loosing a battle buddy.
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Online Pandora

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Re: No Buddy Left Behind
« Reply #3 on: May 27, 2011, 03:48:02 PM »
Because this is how we roll, and thank God for the organization that knows this and gets these buddies home.

I have a special place in my heart for our own orange tabby, Hobbes; he's usually a loveable sweetheart until it comes time to do "something" to him (clip nails/give pills), then look the hell out!

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... too many imbeciles abondon them ...

So true.

Hobbes the kitten came trucking out of the woods, tail straight up and purring his little heart out at the site/smell/sound of Gunsmith.  We'd stopped the car and he'd gotten out because he'd spotted a little orange thing just inside the tree-line.

Maybe because we live on a very rural road in a rural part of the county, but stray cats are forever turning up; we've had many neutered just to keep them from breeding.  A few we convinced a local cat-adoption group to take (they DO NOT euthanize); some we just let go on their merry way because we were just full up.

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Since those first few rescues, Operation Baghdad Pups has rescued 206 pets adopted by U.S. service members serving in Iraq, including 35 cats, at an average of $4,000 per pet. The cost of each rescue is completely funded through donations, with most of the money spent on security teams hired to retrieve pets that can’t be easily transported to Baghdad International Airport.

These folks could probably use some money.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2011, 03:57:02 PM by Pandora »
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