“Charlie came home from Iraq 8 days early to suprise us at the 4th of July fireworks in D.C.!”

“My husband came home on R&R one day before our daughters 16th birthday so we decided to surprise her and our son at school Nov 15, 2010 in Dixon, MO. This is the result. I hope you enjoy and remember to support your military and their families cause they also suffer during deployments.”

Three months after shipping her adopted dog Ratchet, a border collie mix, home from Iraq, Army Specialist Gwen Beberg was reunited with him.

The two were reunited Saturday (Jan 17, 09) as Beberg returned to Spring Lake Park, Minnesota after her tour of duty was over in Iraq. Beberg adopted Ratchet as one-month-old pup after fellow soldiers rescued him from a burning pile of trash in Baghdad, Iraq.

Friends, family and supporters gathered at VFW Post 363 to witness the reunion. “I wish every soldier in the world, past, present and future, came home to a welcome like this,” Beberg said.

Although the Army balked at Bebergs plan to send the dog home, Bebergs efforts and those of Operation Baghdad Pups — along with 70,000 signatures on online petitions and some help from congress — led military officials to loosen the prohibition on U.S. troops adopting pets in Iraq.