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Published by Reader's Digest
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A beautiful, moving tale of one sister's tribute to her
brother -- and the everyday heroes who work to rescue the
animals that sustain our soldiers' spirits. Growing up in the well-heeled Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe,
Michigan, Carey Neesley always thought she and her younger
brother, Peter, would never be separated. The children of divorced
parents and outcasts in their neighborhood, Carey and Peter
supported, loved, and encouraged each other when it seemed no one
else cared. It was a bond that grew through the years, and one that made
Peter's eventual decision to enlist in the Army all the more
difficult for Carey. With Peter having stepped up to help her
raise her young son, Carey was closer than ever to her brother,
and the thought of him serving far from home was painful. While stationed in Iraq, Peter befriended a stray dog and her
four puppies, only to watch three of the young pups die in the
warzone. With only two surviving dogs -- Mama and Boris -- Peter
became determined to save the strays. Carey helped her brother
with his mission, but everything changed on Christmas Day in 2007
when word arrived at the Neesley household that Peter had been
killed. Amidst the grief of coming to terms with her brother's death and
the turmoil of trying to plan his funeral, Carey devoted herself
to bringing Peter's dogs home to the U.S. It was the final honor
she could pay to her brother and a way of keeping a piece of him
with her. With the help of an unlikely network of heroes,
including an animal rescue organization in Utah, a civilian
airline, an Iraqi family, and a private security contractor with
military connections, Mama and Boris mad the journey form the
streets of Baghdad to Carey's suburban house. Carey's mission garnered widespread attention and requests from
other soldiers for help in bringing home dogs they had become
attached to on deployment, and she continues to work with
organizations dedicated to bringing home wartime strays. pub date: 2013-08-29 | Hardcover | 9781621451150 |