Last week in the Army Times, they featured a peice about Spc. Justin Rollins. He was part of the 82nd Airborne Division when his group found a litter of motherless puppies. They rescued those puppies and brought them back to their camp. Justin had his picture taken kissing one of the pups. You could see the affection in his face, the tenderness in his hands, and it was beautiful.

The following day, Justin was killed by a roadside bomb. Even writing this post I am starting to cry again. Sometimes I simply cannot cope with this kind of loss. I can't wrap my mind around the loss of potential, of goodness, of hope.

In the past 12 months, more than one thousand soldiers died in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Times had TWELVE pages containing rows upon rows of photos of the men and women we lost. The vast majority were under the age of 25. And somewhere on those pages were men like Justin.

I cut out the clip with the story about Justin and his photo with the puppy. I have it on my regrigerator. I look at it even though it makes me cry b/c I want to remember Justin. I want to be reminded of people who, under the ugliest conditions, maintain their humanity. I want to know about the soldiers who refuse to let go of the person they were before being sent to fight a war they don't understand and Americans do not support. I want to be reminded that in a place that is saturated with death, danger, and despair, some of our troops continue to manifest kindness, compassion, and love; they do not become the monster that some believe they have to be to do what they have to do in places like Iraq. THESE MEN are, in my mind, the real heroes of this war. His story reminds me that the sacrifice our soldiers make is sometimes not one of life and limb, but of spirit and soul. And some soldiers, like Justin, try to hold on to all of those: life, limb, spirit, and soul.

So much loss. I really cannot wrap my mind around it.

(Sorry, I had this in another forum but I didn't know how to move it!)

What a wonderful person he must have been. My heart just breaks every day because I force myself to think of the "casualties" as actual people, and I think about what their family must be feeling, and what the world will be missing without these heroes. It's so hard to think about.

He was a beautiful person.



It's just very emotionally wrecking to read these types of stories when someone you love is over there.

Didn't his family recently get the puppy brought to the US for them and they are raising it now?

Didn't his family recently get the puppy brought to the US for them and they are raising it now?

Yes they did. They had to have a congressman intervene but the pup is either already here or on its way. So awesome.

Didn't his family recently get the puppy brought to the US for them and they are raising it now?

I remember reading about that at one time and I think it's great the family is going to get to raise that puppy.

I found the article about it...

Dead soldier's family gets pup he held

CONCORD, N.H. - The family of Army Spc. Justin Rollins finally got to hold one of the last things he held.

A female puppy the 22-year-old nuzzled the night before his death in a roadside bombing in Iraq frolicked Friday in New Hampshire, completing a nearly 6,000-mile journey that Rollins' family and girlfriend began pushing for after seeing photos of him with a newborn litter.

"It was the last bit of happiness Justin had," said Rollins' girlfriend, Brittney Murray.

Rollins and some other soldiers from the 82nd Airborne found the puppies outside an Iraqi police station March 4 but weren't allowed to bring them back into their barracks. Rollins was killed the next day in Samarra.

After Murray saw the photos, she sought help finding the short-haired dog, named Hero as a reminder of the man who planned to propose to her on his next visit home, she and his mother said. U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes (news, bio, voting record) contacted the U.S. Central Command, which ordered the 82nd to retrieve the pup and turn it over to delivery company DHL.

Hero arrived Thursday night at Kennedy International Airport in New York, visited a veterinarian and arrived in New Hampshire overnight. The floppy-eared pooch — mostly white, with brown spots along the right side of its muzzle and paws still too big for its 15-pound body — was a hit Friday as she sniffed around Hodes' office, pausing to piddle on the carpet.

Whether the mixed-breed puppy is the one in the photo didn't matter. Several people claimed credit for the dog's name, but everyone agreed it was a fitting tribute to Rollins, whose parents said he was always an animal lover.

"We have a dog and three cats at home. When he was little, they all were on his bed," said his mother, Rhonda.

Rollins was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with a baseball signed by Red Sox player David Ortiz, who met him last summer shortly before Rollins' unit was deployed.

"He really did believe in what he was fighting for," Rhonda Rollins said of her paratrooper son. "I think he'd be thrilled there was a positive story from the negative thing that happened to us. ... He was such a happy-go-lucky guy."

Totally sweet.

:tears what a great story

I saw this on the news yesterday. its a great story!