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class=125452118-20022008><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>This is A great story.
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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=125452118-20022008> </SPAN><STRONG>Subject:</STRONG> :
"Nubs".<BR></FONT></FONT><BR></DIV>
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<P><BR><BR>Feb. 20, 2008.<BR><BR>Nubs is a survivor of cruelty; mascot to the
troops who saved his life; and<BR>a big, furry, lovable symbol of freedom from
the war in Iraq.<BR>The spirited German shepherd-border collie mix is scheduled
to arrive via<BR>airplane late evening on February. 20 in Chicago, where a
dinner of steak<BR>and Pop-Tarts -- the dog loves the strawberry ones --
awaits.<BR>He then will fly to San Diego on February . 21, where he will be
adopted by<BR>friends of Marine Major. Brian Dennis until his owner returns from
a second<BR>tour of Iraq.<BR>Dennis, a St. Petersburg, Fla., native, found Nubs
near death in December<BR>with a stab wound in his left side. He said an Iraqi
border policeman<BR>stabbed him with a screwdriver.<BR>"The wound was deep and
nasty and likely punctured one of his lungs," Dennis<BR>36, wrote in an
e-mail.<BR>"I thought he was going to die."<BR>He rubbed Neosporin on the wound
and hoped for the best. It was a<BR>bone-chilling 18 degrees outside and Dennis
slept with Nubs to keep him warm<BR>The dog made it through that night, and the
next day, and the next. Dennis<BR>and the 12-man special operations unit he
leads in al-Anbar province nursed<BR>him back to full strength.<BR>Dennis named
the dog Nubs because an Iraqi cut off most of the animal's ears<BR>when he was a
puppy. Dennis asked the man who did it why he committed such a<BR>cruel
act.<BR>"He told me it was to make him tough and more alert, and to make him
hear<BR>better," Dennis wrote. "I pulled my combat knife off of my gear and told
my<BR>interpreter to ask him how he'd like it if I cut off his ears ... You
know,<BR>to make him tougher ... More alert. He laughed nervously and I just
stared<BR>at him."<BR>Nubs was the alpha dog, the leader of a wild pack residing
in the ruins of<BR>an Iraqi border fort. It took him awhile to warm up to Dennis
and the<BR>Marines, even though they showed him such love. His trust of humans
needed<BR>to be won back.<BR>Dennis and his men knew they couldn't take Nubs
when they had to temporarily<BR>relocate their combat outpost 70 miles away one
week after the dog recovered<BR><BR>"We had too much going on mission-wise to
take on a dog," he said.<BR>Nubs chased them in their Hummers when they
left.<BR>"Nubs might be the fastest dog I've ever seen," Dennis wrote. "We would
have<BR>to drive faster and faster just to leave him behind. He could hang with
us<BR>up to about 35 mph and then would start to fall back."<BR>Nubs' Incredible
Journey<BR>Two days later, while Dennis was working on a Hummer at the new camp,
he<BR>looked up and couldn't believe his eyes. It was Nubs.<BR>"He tracked us
nearly 70 miles," Dennis wrote friends back home. "I won't<BR>even address the
gauntlet he had to run of dog packs, wolves and God knows<BR>what else to get
here. When he arrived he looked like he'd just been through<BR>a war zone. ...
Uh, wait a minute. He had."<BR>They took him back after their mission and built
him a doghouse. He became a<BR>mascot and pet to the Marines.<BR>But as fun and
special as Nubs was, he also was against the rules. Marines<BR>can't have
animals in war zones. So Dennis, with a mandated four-day window<BR>to get his
dog to safety, worked feverishly on a plan to get Nubs to freedom<BR>Friends
sympathetic to the cause they learned of via e-mail donated $3,500<BR>to a "Save
the Nubs Fund" to help transport the pooch back to the states.<BR>"It's the
least we can do for him after he walked nearly 70 miles and found<BR>us," Dennis
wrote.<BR>Nubs was going home.<BR>The Long Trip To America<BR>Before Dennis took
him to a transfer point into Jordan to begin his<BR>circuitous journey, he
wrote, "He acted a little strange all day yesterday.<BR>Dogs are funny like
that; sometimes they just know when something is up. He<BR>was hiding in the
corner all day prior to the delivery ... He'd never done<BR>that
before."<BR>Dennis took him on one last ride on a combat patrol that included
the doggie<BR>dropoff.<BR>"Next thing we knew, Nubs was heading west to Amman,"
he wrote. "Nubs<BR>received a checkup and vaccinations in the capital city of
Jordan before<BR>being allowed to fly to the U.S. This week."<BR>Contacted via
e-mail by The Tampa Tribune on February. 9, Dennis replied, "I<BR>m not really
looking for coverage on this thing, not now anyway's." He was<BR>concerned that
the story could cause problems for him and others.<BR>But the story of Nubs and
Dennis was reported last week on CNN and other<BR>television outlets. Ellen
DeGeneres learned of it, and on her show February.<BR>15, "When Major. Dennis
returns in March, I so want to meet him ... I think<BR>you're an amazing,
amazing guy."<BR>Dennis' mother, Marsha Cargo of St. Pete Beach, said DeGeneres
wants to have<BR>Nubs and her son reunited on the show. Dennis has received
e-mail about Nubs<BR>from people as far away as New Zealand.<BR>He wrote that
Nubs is going to become "the most famous dog since Spuds<BR>MacKenzie."<BR>"It's
the most beautiful story," Cargo said.<BR>Nubs will get that steak and Pop-Tarts
meal in Chicago from the father of<BR>Capt. Ron Hess, Dennis' operations
officer.<BR>Then it's off to San Diego, where Dennis, a Lakewood High School
and<BR>University of South Florida graduate, is scheduled to return in late
March<BR>and resume his service as an F-18 Hornet fighter pilot based at
Miramar<BR>Marine Corps Air Station.<BR>His friends, Chrissy and Eric Sjoberg of
San Diego, will keep Nubs until<BR>Dennis gets back. The immigrant dog will work
with a trainer, Graham Bloem,<BR>for domestication. Until then, the major can
keep an eye on Nubs' son, Tank.<BR><BR>"He is getting big and is the alpha in a
new pack," Dennis wrote.<BR>Dennis envisioned Nubs living the good life in
America after running for his<BR>life in Iraq:<BR>"He was going to go to the dog
beach in San Diego and play in the waves <BR>while beautiful girls in bikinis
fawned over him. At least that's the way it <BR>went<BR>in my head. Nubs was
going to have a nice, sunny life and never be cold <BR>again. Nubs was going to
San Diego, where he'd live like a little Rock <BR>Star."<BR><BR>Courtesy: C
& C List.<BR><BR>You have received this message because you are Cherished
and cared <BR>About. <BR><BR>-- <BR>I am using the free version of SPAMfighter
for private users.<BR>It has removed 716 spam emails to date.<BR>Paying users do
not have this message in their emails.<BR>Get the free SPAMfighter here: <A
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