Dogs of War: Puppies that helped troops cope with stress in Afghanistan heading to new home in Tampa

Posted Nov 17, 2011 by Howard Altman

Updated Nov 19, 2011 at 12:54 AM

Until that day in July on the base in Wardak Province, Mary Ann Overfelt says she was “100 percent sure I wasn’t a dog person.”

Overfelt, 31, a civilian cultural affairs advisor for the Army, had just returned to Afghanistan from her mid-tour leave back to her home in Tampa when one of the guys motioned for her to follow him.

“’I have a couple of guys I want you to meet,’” she says the soldier told her.

“I knew we were going back to the kennels,” she says. “I said, ‘oh you guys, you did not get me any puppies,’”

Then she saw what Joe and Marty, strays adopted by the base.

And that thing about not being a dog person?

“From the second I met the puppies, I knew it was all over.”

More than just pets, the dogs became four-legged mental health counselors on a military base in one of Afghanistan’s most dangerous areas, a place where, a month later, a Chinook helicopter would be shot down, killing all 38 on board. It was the deadliest incident in the 10-year conflict.

But even before that, those on the base dealt with the constant threat of death and injury.

Between the time she met Joe and Marty and the time she returned to Tampa three weeks ago, four men from the base had been killed – three U.S. soldiers and a translator. And a military working dog was killed too.

“It’s hard to talk about the casualties,” Overfelt says.  “When you sign up and go to war, most everyone is comfortable with the fact that you may have to make the ultimate sacrifice. Out there, that is a possibility. You would not be able to do your job if you weren’t okay with that.”

But it is different, she says, when “when you lose someone from your team.”

“Because even though you know they were okay with that decision, you are not okay. It is very different when someone else makes that sacrifice.”

The losses, says Overfelt, “were devastating.”

That’s where Joe and Marty proved their real worth.

“The dogs were awesome,” she says. “They have such fun personalities, no matter how bad it got, always count on dogs to be there.”

But Overfelt wouldn’t be. And she became so attached to Joe and Marty that she wanted to make sure that someone from the base could bring them home with them.

“From the day I met them, I knew they had to come to live in the U.S.,” she says. “We couldn’t leave them in Afghanistan.”

So she started doing some research. And in August, she found out about The Puppy Rescue Mission.  The organization is dedicated to bringing home the dogs of war adopted by soldiers during their service to Afghanistan.

“I asked them what steps needed to be taken,” she says. “They jumped all over it, tell us their story, gave us pictures, set up a chip-in page for people to make donations.”

It would take $3,500 per dog to get them stateside, says Overfelt.

“It didn’t take more than three or four days to raise the money,” she says. The team raised some of the money. Donations came in from friends and family. And complete strangers. 
Fast forward three months, to a chilly Thursday night in mid-November.

“Joe and Marty have arrived safely in Houston,” she emails.  “They will start their travel to Dallas shortly.  They will be arriving on American Airlines flight 1242 scheduled to arrive at 2230 this evening.  I called the cargo office and they told me to go to the ticket counter to pick up the puppies.”

Overfelt is thrilled.

To see the puppies. And that The Puppy Rescue Mission is around to help.

“It’s the tireless efforts of those at TPRM,” she says, “that make reunions like this possible.”

With the help of The Puppy Rescue Mission Mary Ann
Overfelt’s adopted dogs Marty, left, and Joe arrived
at Tampa International Airport late Thursday night
from Afghanistan./JASON BEHNKEN