Soldier KIA, But Adopted Puppy Comes to America

An Army major killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq has left a canine legacy—Laia, a stray puppy who made it back to America, the Los Angeles Times reports. Working on a transition team, Steven Hutchison found the dog loafing around his vehicle after a meeting. “Maj. Hutchison was hooked,” Sgt. Andrew Hunt says. "She slept in his bed with him at night and napped under his bed during the day.”

Adopting Laia in a war zone wasn't Hutchison's only quirky act. A Vietnam vet, he signed up to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq despite his liberal politics; he had a PhD in psychology; he jogged around the Iraq base in purple "short shorts" despite official warnings; and he was 60 years old. Hunt, Hutchison's comrade, plans to visit Laia at her new home in Michigan. "Like Maj. Hutchison, you cannot tell Laia what to do."