From Baghdad, With Love: A Marine, the War, and a Dog Named Lava

“One of a handful of heartwarming tales to emerge from the war in Iraq.” —USA Today

“Kopelman’s tale is not just a seasonal heart warmer. It is a provocative examination of an issue that resonates deeply in the wake of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay: Do ‘softer’ values, such as mercy for the weak, sabotage military morale or strengthen it? At Kopelman and Lava’s first meeting, the exhausted, trigger-happy Marine glimpsed a ball of fur and instinctively reached for his rifle. But soon Lava won over his unit, reducing ‘elite, well-oiled machines of war’ to baby talk. This was strictly verboten…But Kopelman and his battle mates could not bear to kill the puppy or abandon him in a place where dogs survive by gnawing at corpses. Instead, they began plotting Lava's escape—and found a bit of salvation in a soul-numbing war.” —Washington Post

“Iraq veteran Kopelman and journalist Roth tell a tale of radiant joy about Kopelman's efforts to safely transport Lava, the stray dog his Marine unit found in the wreckage of Fallujah, back to the US. Though the premise sounds cloying, Kopelman and Roth eschew sentimentality. They don’t hesitate to detail the corruption of the Coalition Provisional Authority and the US military bureaucracy or the extreme hardships of the Iraqi people. Kopelman’s nagging qualms about keeping the dog in violation of military orders throw into relief his efforts to repress his guilt over working so hard to save a dog amid so much human suffering…The story of Lava’s journey out of Iraq is exciting, but it’s to Kopelman and Roth’s credit that it’s not nearly as harrowing as the story of what the dog left behind.” —Publishers Weekly