Their friendship began half
way across the world in Iraq,
when St. Petersburg native
Major Brian Dennis encountered
a mixed breed dog in Anbar
Province. The dog had been
savagely abused and his ears
cut off.

The marine decided to call him
Nubbs.

In e-mails to his mother,
Marsha Cargo in Tierra Verde,
Major Denn
more

Their friendship began half
way across the world in Iraq,
when St. Petersburg native
Major Brian Dennis encountered
a mixed breed dog in Anbar
Province. The dog had been
savagely abused and his ears
cut off.

The marine decided to call him
Nubbs.

In e-mails to his mother,
Marsha Cargo in Tierra Verde,
Major Dennis wrote how he was
'dumbfounded' when he learned
Nubbs' ears were cut off
purposely by an Iraqi to make
him tough and more alert.
Nubbs, he said, was ordained a
fighting dog.

Four months passed, and the
bond between man and his four
legged friend grew. Nubbs, was
dealt severe blows in his
short life, including being
stabbed by a screwdriver. The
major shared his distress with
mother.

'He tried sleeping with him
that night because it was 18
degree temperature and he was
afraid he was not going to
live through the night. So out
of his back pack, he took
Neosporin and covered the
wound,' Cargo said.

Major Dennis nursed Nubbs back
to health...and here is where
this friendship takes a
remarkable turn: Major Dennis
was ordered to move his
squadron 70 miles away. He
complied.

His mother shared her son's
surprise of a lifetime, 'Two
days later he was out there
working on a vehicle in the
front yard and all of a sudden
here comes Nubbs. He had
tracked Brian 70 miles across
the desert in 18 degree
temperature while being
wounded.'

Despite strict rules, Major
Dennis wrote to his mother, he
had to help this dog. 'I won't
even address the gauntlet. He
had to run off a pack of dogs,
wolves and god knows what else
to get here...when he arrived
he looked like he had been
through a war zone,' Dennis
wrote.

Weeks went by, and Nubbs was
dealt another blow,

'Someone told on them that
they had the dog and they had
4 days to get rid of him or
Nubbs was going to be shot,'
Cargo said.

That's when the Marine made it
his mission to get Nubbs to
safety. He wrote, 'Nubbs was
going to America, this dog had
been through a lifetime of
fighting war, abuse, and had
tracked our team over 70 miles
of harsh desert (and) was
going to live the good life.'

The major started an e-mail
campaign that crisscrossed
continents. Within two days
there was three thousand
dollars to bring Nubbs home.




'The hardest part was getting
him across the Jordanian
border,' Cargo told us.

But, in keeping with the rest
of this story, the duo defied
the odds. Major Dennis was
able to get Nubbs into Jordan.
A family here in The U.S. will
take care of him there until
these friends can be
reunited.

'I almost feel like Brian is
his guardian angel and maybe
he is Brian's guardian angel,'
Cargo said.

Category Pets & Animals

Tags abused, , dog, iraq, friendly, soldier, nubs, tracks, 70, miles, desert, brian, dennis, anbar, marsha, cargo, tierra, verde, marine, major