Deployed soldier pleads for rescue of puppy found overseas: 'Part of my soul'
An overseas soldier has a new mission at hand.
Sgt. Nico, who is currently deployed, is hoping to deliver a dog in danger to safety in the U.S.
In a statement sent to the nonprofit Paws of War, Nico (who did not share his last name for privacy reasons) described this as the "most challenging part of deployment."
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When the soldier found the puppy, named Mia, outside his base, she was "frail" with "not much life left in her."
He said, "We don’t know how she’s even surviving based on what is available for her."
"I gave her a little food and water," he said. "She was very scared."
The soldier said a prayer for the puppy that she would improve overnight.
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The next morning, Nico was alerted by a team member that there was a dog outside the gate crying.
"Of course, when I went to see what was going on, it was Mia," he said.
"She started wagging her tail and letting out these little cries. It broke my heart."
Nico added that it also "broke the heart of everyone else on the base."
He told Paws of War, "We knew in our hearts we just couldn’t ignore her. We gave her some food and water every day. She followed me around like I was her father."
The soldiers suspected that Mia’s parents had been killed — so Nico expressed his gratitude that she found her way to him.
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"She certainly found her way into my heart," he said.
Nico shared that he video-calls his wife and kids back in the U.S. every day and recently told them about Mia.
"They got so excited," he said. "They wanted me to FaceTime with her and once I did, they fell in love with her."
He went on, "My son has been wanting [a] dog for the longest time … Our FaceTime conversations shifted away from me and focused only on Mia."
Nico said his family "could not get enough of Mia" — and neither could he.
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"She became my shadow everywhere I went," he said.
"We woke up together, we went to bed together … She brought some normalcy to a faraway place. She brought comfort to my other team members on base, and it was just what we needed."
As Nico’s family continued to ask when Mia would be coming home, the soldier reached out to Paws of War for help.
Now, the organization is on a mission to bring the dog to the U.S.
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Paws of War co-founder Robert Misseri told Fox News Digital that he "can’t think of anything more rewarding" than giving Sgt. Nico and his family this "one dream."
"He sure earned it," he said. "And Mia left behind would be a slow death sentence."
Nico echoed that there is "nothing left for Mia" where he’s deployed.
"When we leave, she will go back to having no shelter, no friends, no food, no water, no protection," he said. "She will go back to an uncertain life of being frail and afraid."
Said Nico, "Mia is part of my soul and is part of my family. I cannot imagine leaving her, knowing she will be left behind with no one. I’m praying this mission is successful."
Paws of War has helped bring more than 600 dogs and cats, rescued by U.S. troops serving overseas, to safety in America, according to its website.
The organization accepts donations at pawsofwar.org.