Jay Kopelman

A group of Marines in Iraq found a puppy in an abandoned building they took over. They named the puppy Lava, and despite a military order not to care for any animals, the Marines fell for the cute little guy, and Kopelman started to worry about what would happen to Lava when they left. He did everything he could to make sure Lava was brought to the United States.

It was good and what animal-lover wouldn’t fall for the cute, but slightly obnoxious puppy Lava!? Loved reading about Lava, and found that more interesting than the details of the extremely difficult task of shipping him to the U.S. No surprise that I teared up a few times.… (meer)

There are several things that makes this a striking book. For one thing, the vivid, frightening description of Fallujah at war kept me up at night, filled with adrenaline. When i finally fell asleep, I dreamt of warzones.
For another, the author, a marine, is very frank in expressing his feelings, and this really helps those of us who aren't in Iraq understand. The actual trials and tribulations of getting Lava, the puppy, to the U.S. were both frustrating and enlightening; not particularly enjoyable. The bottom line is I needed to find out about Jay and Lava's life in America and have started reading From Baghdad to America.… (meer)