There have been many recent news stories about Duke, the German Shepherd Dog that went to live with a fallen soldier’s mother. Some of the facts have been misreported. Here is the real story, straight from the mouth of Deb Christy, the mother.
On June 20, 2014, Adam Christy was in the IUD detection vehicle at the front of a convoy in Afghanistan. An explosion tore about his vehicle killing him, two other soldiers and a military K-9 named Cade. Two men survived.
One of them, Quinton Quiroga, was in the vehicle behind Adam’s and was his best friend. It was he who pulled Adam’s body from the wreckage.
“Needless to say, he had a hard time, is having a hard time with it,” Christy told us in a phone interview. “He had to pull his best friend out of the vehicle.”
Christy had met Quinton and his wife Shelby at the base in North Carolina before her son and Quinton were stationed in Afghanistan. They had grown quite close, swapping news via Facebook and Skype.
They connected at the Marine Corp Funeral and again at the Marine Corp Ball where Christy stood in in for Adam, escorted by Quinton.
“I could get my questions answered, talking to Quinton,” she says. “Because they don’t tell you everything.”
Shelby was expecting a baby boy, and planned on naming him after Adam.
Christy struggled with being alone
Along with his mother, Adam was also survived by his twin brother Aaron, another brother and a sister. However, his mom was left alone on her 100-acre farm in Iowa, after a messy divorce.
“Adam wasn’t coming home any more to be with me,” Christy says. “I was more alone than I’ve ever been, you understand.”
She explained that her ex had broken into her home a few times and she was worried about being on the property alone. Because of this, she had thought about getting a large dog for protection.
Shelby happened to foster dogs from time to time. Christy noticed a post on Facebook about a German Shepherd Dog Shelby had recently taken in.
“For some reason, her husband was severely allergic to Duke,” Christy says. “They own a dog and they have fosters others, but something about Duke bothered him.”
In her Facebook post, Shelby said Duke belonged to a service member that was moving to Japan and because of regulations, they couldn’t take him with them, so he needed a new permanent home.
Christy spoke to Shelby about the one-year-old dog, and they both agreed he was “perfect” for her, except for the distance.
A Few Angels Step In
Word about the situation reached Pilots N Paws through a volunteer for Friends of Lebanon Animals in Lebanon, Tennessee.
Pilots N Paws is a non-profit organization that acts as a cyber “meeting place for those who rescue, shelter or foster animals, and volunteer pilots and plane owners willing to assist with the transportation of animals.”
After hearing the story, three pilots, including Karen Johnson and Peter Tobin, volunteered to get Duke to his new mom in Iowa.
“We have transported hundreds of animals over the past six years,” says Johnson. “We have squeezed as many as twenty-five animals in our plan in order to save them. Duke was actually one of three dogs we transported on that trip.”
A New Life
This wasn’t just a new life for Duke – it’s a new life for Christy. Adam’s twin brother is staying with her for a few months, but then she will be on her one again, but not as alone as she was.
“I had a hard time, depression set in, things got really dark,” says Christy.
But Duke has helped. In fact, Christy’s voice changed even while I was speaking to her. Having to re-account her son’s death was hard for her, even now. But her tone lightened and she started to laugh as she spoke about Dukes one big problem – he’s a city dog!
“He is like a child in a candy store,” she laughed. “Before, the only time he had been outside was on leash, so I was careful to not just ‘let him go.’’
And when the herding dog met cows?
“When I first took him out to meet the cows on leash, he was terrified and wanted to run back in the house,” she laughed. “But now his herding instinct is starting to kick in and he is wants to chase instead of run away.”
Duke also has two new sisters, both Boston Terriers, that he adores.
“They weren’t sure about him at first,” Christy says, “But he immediately laid down and wanted to play. They came around after a bit.”
She is teaching him to be a guardian dog, but more than anything he has helped drive away some of the loneliness and makes Christy feel better about being on her own.
“I really appreciated what Pilots n Paws does. They don’t have to do it, it’s all volunteers,” Christy says.
“Because of this experience, I will be adopting my next dog as well.”
Do you have a rescue story? Email me at Kristina@homelifemedia.com
