Story:

Thor was befriended in January, 2008, by a unit serving at a Combat Outpost (COP) north of Baghdad. He arrived one day young, malnourished and flea ridden, but he took to the soldiers quickly and they took to him. The soldiers started Thor on a regular diet and as time went by he began gaining weight and looking more healthy.

Thor was named for Thor, the Norse and Gernamic God of Thunder who has a ferocious appearance, but is regularly portrayed as a protector of humans against the forces of evil. “The Vikings” is also the nickname of the unit Thor befriended, which helped draw them to his name.

The COP Thor found also had a lot of other stray dogs around, so as Thor gained weight he began to get more active and play with the other dogs. Thor had a great community of soldiers and friends. Soon enough, he even started joining the soldiers on patrol. He was a nice change of pace to daily life in the war zone.

Ted, the soldier who will be adopting Thor in the United States, explained, “Thor increases our morale mostly because he has a great disposition; friendly and playful. After a difficult patrol we can sit and relax, watching Thor play with the other dogs at the COP, laughing at their antics; all of which helps relieve our stress.”

Ted continued, “I think it's great that Thor has an opportunity to go home with me and the soldiers. He has been a part of the unit here and a part of the many memories of our whole experience in combat. We will appreciate being able to maintain contact with Thor since we all spent so much time with him in Iraq.