Dogs and other animals don’t do “No good deeds go unpunished” — unlike humans.
Dogs not only never forget a kindness, they’ll repay you, sometimes by sacrificing their own lives to save yours.
That’s what Sgt. Chris Dukes, a National Guardsmen from Georgia, found.
Dukes was on tour in Afghanistan when he befriended three stray pups — Sasha, Target and Rufus.
Dukes told CBS, “A lot of us used the three of them as kind of an escape, you know when you’re home sick.”
But the dogs proved to be so much more than just a reminder of home. In fact, Dukes firmly believes he wouldn’t be alive today if weren’t for the dogs.
On a February night a Muslim suicide bomber tried to get into Dukes’ barracks. But the three dogs began to bark and bit the bomber.
The jihadist blew himself up, saving the lives of the fifty soldiers in the barracks.
Sadly, Sasha was severely injured and had to be euthanized. She died defending the soldiers who had befriended her.
Rufus and Target survived and were nursed back to health.
Sadly, Dukes had to leave the two dogs behind when he returned to the States a month later. “I was really worried. The fact that the next unit may come in and not want them there,” says Dukes.
While another soldier kept an eye on the dogs, Dukes wrote a letter to a group called Hope For The Warriors. He explained to them that he and the other soldiers owed their lives to Rufus and Target and wanted nothing more than to bring them home.
After $21,000 was raised on a Facebook page, the two dogs were brought over from Afghanistan. Watch the heartwarming reunion beginning at the 1:29 mark in the CBS News video below.
H/t Iheartdogs and FOTM’s CSM
~Éowyn