Stryker unit's beloved Afghan dog makes it home safe

The Afghan mountain dog, who was rescued from the streets of Afghanistan by a Stryker soldier five months ago and ended up bonding with the entire unit, arrived at Sea-Tac Airport late Tuesday morning.

"I'm super excited," said Lena Bourillion. "I have like the permanent grin because I'm super excited."

Lena's husband Phil Bourillion, of Puyallup, found the then 4-month-old pup in a pile of trash one day near his unit's base.

"Obviously scrounging for food - I'm sure - no mother around," he said late last year.

So he picked her up and took her in, and soon Oso and the rest of Phil's unit with the 5th Stryker Brigade were inseparable.

If one of the troops felt down or missed a loved one, Oso was there. When they went out on night patrols, Oso waited for them to return safely.

"She means a lot," said Spc. David LaForge, who is with Bourillon's unit but home this week on R&R. "She was a big boost of morale when we had her - she was a little puppy - we raised her from nothing."

When Phil's unit got transferred to another base, they thought they'd just bring Oso along with the goal to get her back to the United States, but it was against Army regulations.

Undaunted, Lena took the initiative and began a long process of trying to get the dog out on her own.

"When he told me they were going to have to leave her: 'You guys aren't doing that. You guys aren't leaving her behind,' " Lena said when we interviewed her back in January.

Phil Bourillion and Oso

Unit members paid a local Afghan driver to sneak Oso through enemy lines to Kabul. Once Oso was there, Lena, with the help of family and friends, found someone who would get Oso into Pakistan. From there, the Problem Solvers helped Oso get a flight to New York for a layover in the snow, then on to Seattle Tuesday.

Lena fought long and hard for a dog she had never met.

"I couldn't disappoint my husband and these guys that helped her," she said. "And she was a monumental part of their life."

Her husband's unit is due back from Afghanistan in five months and then they will get to see Oso once again.

For now, Oso will spend the next three weeks with Pasado's Safe Haven on a farm in quarantine to protect other animals from any parasites Oso might have picked up in Afghanistan. Then, Oso will arrive at the Bourillion's Puyallup home.

The Bourillions are still trying to raise money to bring other dogs home from Iraq and Afghanistan.