COURTESY PHOTO Kaneohe Marines found and adopted Lava, a part German shepherd and husky, during the battle for Fallujah.

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Puppy saved
with Marines’ aid

A stray puppy that survived the battle for Fallujah was adopted by Kaneohe Marines who kept the dog safe, feeding it MREs and hiding him in duffle bags.

The Marines called the puppy Lava after their battalion, whose nickname is "Lava Dogs," which is a combination of "Devil Dogs" and lava -- the foundation of the Hawaiian Islands.

Part German shepherd and husky, Lava was reunited with one of his rescuers last week in his new home in Southern California.

During the heated house-to-house battle for Fallujah in November, Lava, then just 6 weeks old, was found by several Marines from 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment, from Kaneohe Bay.

John Van Zante, spokesman for the Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe near San Diego, described Lava as "flea-bitten, malnourished and covered with scabs."

"One of the Marines scooped the puppy up and tucked him under his flack jacket for safety for the rest of the day," Van Zante said.

Lt. Col. Jay Kopelman, a Marine Corps reservist who had been on active duty since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, said, with a slight chuckle, that the tale of Lava has grown since his rescue in November.

"He (Lava) was found homeless early during the battle for Fallujah," Kopelman said during a phone interview from his home in La Jolla, Calif. "Several of the Marines fed him MREs and bathed him and were looking after him when I first saw him."

At that point Kopelman, who had served as a liaison officer between an Iraqi battalion and the Kaneohe Marines, decided to take Lava under his wing.

"I just loved that dog and I told the Marines I would take care of him."

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COURTESY PHOTO Lt. Col. Jay Kopelman says Lava seems to have adjusted to his new Southern California home and his fiancee's dog.

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Despite military regulations banning troops from adopting pets and prohibiting animals other than military working dogs, several Kaneohe Marines had made a home for the puppy out of duffle bags to keep his presence a secret.

When Kopelman left Fallujah on Thanksgiving afternoon, Lava accompanied him to Camp Fallujah, where Navy Seabees built him a house out of crates. When Kopelman was called away on assignment, he asked a friend in Baghdad to look after Lava.

He also asked his fiancee, Ellen Stiefler, if he could keep the puppy if he could find a way to bring it home.

Van Zante said that's how his animal center got into the picture.

He said the center at that time was working with the Iams pet food company on their sixth "Home for the Holidays Pet Adoption" drive.

"The Iams company stepped forward to lend a helping paw and started to look for ways to bring Lava home," Van Zante said.

One of the biggest hurdles was getting Lava properly vaccinated. That was done with the help of National Public Radio reporter Anne Garrels, who had been embedded with the Kaneohe Marines during the battle for Fallujah; an NPR producer, Ben Gilbert; and an Iraqi citizen identified only as "Varham" to protect his identity, Van Zante said.

The Iams Company also contacted Kenneth Licklider, owner of Vohne Liche Kennels, an Indiana company that trains bomb-sniffing dogs and handlers to work with United States military and coalition forces in Iraq.

Licklider contacted Vohne Liche staff member Brian Griffith in Iraq, Van Zante said, and they devised a plan to get Lava into Baghdad's Green Zone, where he could board a plane with their other dogs and personnel bound for America. Assisting in this effort was Triple Canopy, an American security firm working in Baghdad.

On March 31, Lava was placed on flight from Baghdad International Airport to Amman, Jordan. Two days later, Lava left Jordan for Chicago.

Lava was reunited on April 4 with Kopelman, who had left Iraq on March 21.

Kopelman said Lava seems to have adjusted to his new Southern California home as well as to his fiancee's golden retriever, Lulu.

"I think she just ignores him," Kopelman said. "But he's here among the trees and the grass and the horses. He seems to be at home."