When Spc. Phil Bourrillion of Joint Base Lewis-McChord's 3-17th Field Artillery Regiment deployed to Afghanistan, he planned on doing everything possible to return safely to his family. What he hadn't planned on was expanding his family from inside of a war zone.

Bourrillion rescued Oso, an Afghan Kuchi dog, when she was a mere 5-week-old pup. Found inside a garbage burn pit, Oso was an unexpected but welcome sight to the toughened soldiers. A bond was quickly formed between the pup and the soldier who had saved her.

"The first time I heard about Oso was when my husband called me from Afghanistan," Lena Bourrillion explained. "Phil told me he had saved a puppy from certain death and was going to send me pictures of her. She was super cute and fuzzy. I was clueless; I didn't know there were puppies in Afghanistan."

Oso was fighting a battle every day to stay alive. Afghanistan has little in the way of veterinarian care, and many of the dogs carry deadly diseases. Dogs are tortured and killed by the Afghan locals and the Taliban daily. Oso was a welcome vision to the soldiers, bringing love and laughter to war weary and exhausted soldiers returning after long mission filled days. She was now part of their family.

Unfortunately, the time came when Bourrillion received word that his unit was moving out. Oso would have to be left behind. This did not go over well with Bourrillion or the rest of the soldiers. Oso had become part of his life, often offering a spark of light in an otherwise dark hour. The Bourrillions knew that leaving Oso behind would most likely lead to her death, so they began the process of rescuing her.

Lena had no idea where to begin.

"First I contacted SPCA Int'l," she said. "They had brought home dogs from Baghdad but were no help getting one home from Afghanistan. I then posted on a forum, and an Italian woman contacted me. She had seen on the news there a woman who was able to get her son's dog home from Afghanistan and gave me her information. That led me to get into contact with two other women. One of the women, Chris Sullivan, then put me in contact with Nowzad, a UK-based organization known for rescuing dogs from Afghanistan."

The contact from Nowzad told Lena she would have to raise $3,000 to $5,000 to bring Oso home. Lena fund-raised by setting up a Facebook account and reaching out to local news outlets. To get Oso to a safe haven inside of Afghanistan, a paid Afghan nationalist would have to travel hundreds of miles and across enemy lines to retrieve her. The risk intensified with each checkpoint; the nationals and Taliban had zero tolerance for dogs. Home on R&R when the transport took place, Bourrillion and his wife waited the excruciating 24 hours for news on Oso. At 5 a.m. in the morning the phone finally rang. Oso had made it into the arms of Louise, a British worker inside of Afghanistan.

Yet, Oso's journey was hardly over. After spending five weeks in Louise's care, she went to an Afghan veterinarian for vaccinations, health records and customs paperwork. Four days before her scheduled flight, disaster struck. Oso caught a fast spreading strand of K-9 influenza. She stopped eating, was vomiting and had diarrhea. It didn't look like Oso was going to make it. Finally, a worried Bourrillion suggested the vet team give Oso a can of tuna. She started eating again and caught her flight.

"He knew his dog," Lena said.

After a 50-hour flight, Oso landed at JFK on Super Bowl Sunday. After spending a few days on the East Coast, she made the nonstop flight home to Seattle and the waiting arms of Lena and their daughter, Marissa. Now, when Bourrillion arrives home this summer he will be greeted by a dog that truly defines the label of man's best friend.
Oso continues to bring happiness to the soldiers in Bourrillion's unit.

"I look at Oso, and I know how fortunate she is. The video and pictures I send to the guys of Oso brings the guys so much happiness. She smiles at them. She opens her mouth and shows her teeth, and that makes them laugh so hard."

The leftover money raised to bring Oso home was donated to Nowzad Dogs to help rescue other soldiers' pets.  The Bourrillions have vowed to pay it forward and have helped establish the Soldiers' Animal Companions Fund, a donor advised fund that enables US citizens to make a tax deductible donation to the foreign charity, Nowzad Dogs, that helps with these rescues.  For more information on the organization that helped bring Oso home as well as information on how you can help others, visit the Web site: www.sacfund.com <http://www.sacfund.com/>  or the Facebook group "OSO: Operation Save Others" and click on the information tab.

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