Sarge looks nervous. She has the somewhat disconnected but hyper-vigilant appearance that many of her breed possess. These dogs' owners and fans say the dogs are "different." A complex mixture of the comfort of home and the disquiet of war seems to bond them to the soldiers who have saved them, and there's a certain unease apparent in Sarge as she's moved into the spotlight at the end of a long day.  The soldier responsible for saving her is moved in front of a backdrop for pictures, and she's sent to him.  Humans with cameras try to get her attention with food, calls and sounds, but she's not interested. 

Instead, she seems to have found the one thing that brings her comfort: The Man.

Her body leans into him as his large hands find the scruff of her neck, her ears.  She's calmed, and there's a certain relaxation in the soldier as well, a mutual magic as the two bond.  The soldier's wife looks on with pride and love in her eyes, and she tells me later about how saving dogs like Sarge worked a strange magic between her and her husband when he was deployed in Afghanistan in 2014.

He was one of four U.S. soldiers working to help train 600 Afghans.  Finding some dogs living under a building, and getting them help with The Puppy Rescue Mission (PRM) and the Afghan Stray Animal League, brought a certain sense of normalcy and peace to the soldier as he was deployed.  

"This whole thing played a huge part in his getting through this deployment," his wife recalled.

"This whole thing" resulted, ultimately, in the rescue of twenty dogs when all was said and done.  One, Diva, was pregnant with eleven puppies.  A caring Afghan brought another dog.  And there were the three at the camp, one of whom was Ace, a dog that our soldier bonded to.  He was aware of General Order #1, which threatened sanctions against soldiers who befriend animals in theater.  

"Technically,  you're not allowed to touch them," he told me.  But his hands might have found a scruff or some ears in their time abroad, and as much as he comforted the dogs, they gave him a subtle, somewhat illicit mission.  "As bad as it is in Afghanistan, these dogs have a chance at life."

As far as things went with Ace, our soldier reached out to his wife, who reached out through the Internet.

"I put up the page before bed," she said. "The plan was to have the money raised before he woke up." (Spoiler alert - it happened.)

Aiding with all of the rescues, she explained, "was my way of connecting with him ... Coordinating stateside, keeping him updated ... it was my way of keeping him uplifted."

Fortunately, he had command support as well, even if not explicitly.

"Oh, my command knew," the soldier said with a smile and a slight shrug.  "As long as you're doing good, I don't think anyone should point fingers," he added, his statement more of a declaration of truth rather than defiance.  

And under his fingertips, leaning into him for comfort, Sarge is proof positive of the good.

You can help bring dogs and cats from Afghanistan, Africa, and other areas of conflict to soldiers, or you can adopt them, by going to www.puppyrescuemission.com or visiting the Puppy Rescue Mission Facebook page and contributing.