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From Baghdad, With Love: A Marine, the War, and a Dog Named Lava Audiobook
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Love and hope often arrive in the strangest places and in the strangest ways. During his tour of duty in Iraq, LtCol Jay Kopelman of the U.S. Marines endured the emotional stress common for those involved in bloody battles for freedom. Although the rules forbid pets, Kopelman and his comrades adopted an abandoned puppy left behind after the battle for Fallujah. The dog (named Lava) befriended the Marines and journalists, and was eventually smuggled out of Iraq by the soldiers with the help of NPR reporters, John van Zante and the Helen Woodward Animal Center, Iraqi citizens, and the Iams pet food company.
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“Iraq veteran Kopelman and journalist Rothtell 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 ProvisionalAuthority and the US military bureaucracy or the extreme hardships of the Iraqipeople. Kopelman’s nagging qualms about keeping the dog in violation ofmilitary orders throw into relief his efforts to repress his guilt over workingso hard to save a dog amid so much human suffering…The story of Lava’s journey outof Iraq is exciting, but it’s to Kopelman and Roth’s credit that it’s notnearly as harrowing as the story of what the dog left behind.”
— Publishers Weekly
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“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
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About the Authors
Jay Kopelman is a former lieutenant colonel in the US Marine Corps. He lives in La Jolla, California, with his wife and their two children, Cheddar the cat, and, last but not least, two dogs: Koda and, yes, Lava.
Michael Kramer is an AudioFile Earphones Award winner, a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration, and recipient of a Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award. He is also an actor and director in the Washington, DC, area, where he is active in the area’s theater scene and has appeared in productions at the Shakespeare Theatre, the Kennedy Center, and Theater J.
About Michael Kramer
Michael Kramer is an AudioFile Earphones Award winner, a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration, and recipient of a Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award. He is also an actor and director in the Washington, DC, area, where he is active in the area’s theater scene and has appeared in productions at the Shakespeare Theatre, the Kennedy Center, and Theater J.