From Baghdad with Love by Jay Kopelman (a court of thorns and roses ebook free .TXT) 📕

I am going to kick your ass.

Film footage later shows a dog barreling toward a well-composed Marine in uniform who bends down, catches the dog in mid-leap, stands up and turns circles with his face buried in the dog’s fur, and all you have to do is add hot water, and bang, instant answer to the question.

Why wasn’t my time spent helping people instead of a puppy? I don’t know, and I don’t care, but at least I saved something.

EPILOGUE

The publicity was good for the Helen Woodward Animal Center. John tells me that as a result of Lava’s part in the Home 4 the Holidays drive, thousands of orphaned animals got homes that year.

About a month after we got back, John Van Zante received an interesting letter in the mail, which I look at from time to time. It was dated May 5, 2005, and responded to the letter John sent to one of the California senators back in February:

Dear Mr. Van Zante:

Thank you for your request for assistance with a federal agency. Please be assured that your matter will receive serious attention, and that I will make every effort, consistent with federal law and ethics standards, to assist you. However, I will need to have your written consent on file before I can open a formal inquiry into your case.

Therefore, please send your written and signed request for assistance to [address]. In your statement, please include your name, your address, your phone number, any relevant identification numbers such as your social security or alien registration number, a brief description of your case, and your signature.

Once again, thank you for writing.

Annie ended up flying back to the States after her trip to Cairo, where she spent time refueling with her husband and their dogs. Soon, however, she was off reporting corruption and scandal in Russia. We still stay in touch, and I still worry about her, because now she’s back in Baghdad again.

Matt Hammond flew back to the States, where he spent a long time recuperating from the multiple surgeries performed on his back and legs. We both work at Camp Pendleton now and even have dinner together once in a while. He’s fully recovered from his wounds and says he wants to go back to Iraq for another tour.

Ken Licklider went back to Indiana, where the kennel flourishes. It is now the largest trainer of explosives detection, police service, cadaver, and narcotics dogs in the United States, and if you’re tough, brave, honest, and love dogs, give Ken a call; he can still use some help.

I don’t know what happened to everyone else, like the surviving Lava Dogs or Sam or the Iraqi soldiers I trained, but I think about them all the time. I want them to know that. I hear it’s been tough . . .

As for Lava, he’s happy, I think. He’s got a new collar and eats only expensive dog food these days. We climb mountains and roam the beach and sit in outdoor cafés on the waterfront and watch the waves and the people pass by. He’s made some four-legged friends in the park who don’t know how to play soccer, but that makes him exotic and cool.

Lava is still the product of his upbringing, though. He can’t sit quietly for any length of time, eats everything and then throws up, jumps at loud noises, and protects me from threats only he understands. Like we’ll be driving down the road and pass some guy on the sidewalk who’s minding his own business, but something about him gets Lava to thinking about Iraq, I guess, like maybe the way he walks or the way he’s dressed, and Lava goes absolutely, certifiably, straight-to-the-moon-and-back wild. Only he’s not bouncing up and down and rooing these days. He’s not even just barking at a stranger like a regular dog. He’s in full devil-dog attack mode, lunging and gnashing his teeth and getting so worked up as he tries to get through the window that he gets lost in that zone no one, not even me, can access.

Lava has been through several obedience classes and is making progress but has yet to graduate from one. That’s okay, though. I’m pretty much in the same boat in more ways than one, and we keep each other company as things straighten out.

Besides, I figure he’s still paying me back for what I did at the Jordanian border.

We have a new family now, Lava and me. On the summer solstice in June 2006, in a private ceremony on Catalina Island, I married the most wonderful woman I’ve ever known. She and her son have a dog about the same age and size as Lava, along with a cat and a white rat. The animals are all best friends and Lava’s taken to protecting my stepson in much the same way he protected me in Iraq—he sleeps with him every night.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Agostine, Luis R. “Marines Assist Iraqis Recover Remains of Fallujah Conflict.” Marine Corps News. November 19, 2004.

Al-Ali, Zaid. “Corruption and Mismanagement Create Economic Catastrophe.” Al-Ahram Weekly. April 7, 2005.

Al jazeera. “U.S. Uses Napalm Gas in Fallujah—Witnesses.” November 28, 2004.

———. “Aid Finally Reaches Fallujah Civilians.” November 27, 2004.

———. “Fallujah Women, Children in Mass Grave.” November 24, 2004.

American Forces Information Service. “Violence Escalates as Crackdown on Insurgents Continues in Iraq.” News release. January 8, 2005.

Arabicnews.com. “On the Shiite Celebration of Ashoura, Iraqi Border Crossings Closed.” February 11, 2005.

———. “Bloody Day in Iraq, 30 Were Killed on Monday.” February 8, 2005.

Associated Press. “Insurgent Attacks Across Iraq Kill Eight.” March 28, 2005.

———. “Iraq Police Say Attacker Seemed to Have Down Syndrome.” January 31, 2005.

———. “Weather Suspected in Deadly Marines Crash.” January 26, 2005.

———. “70 Parties Registered for Iraq Elections.” December 11, 2004.

Assyrian International News Agency. “Al-Qaeda Vows to Continue Iraq Holy War.” February 1, 2005.

Baker, David. “Contractors Hunker Down and Await Outcome of Elections.” San Francisco Chronicle. January 28, 2005.

Barnard,