Marines reunite with beloved dogs they rescued overseas

Military members are known to be heroes, but three Marines from southeastern North Carolina have a heroic tale of a different kind after saving a dog and her puppies.

“Seeing them for the first time again is definitely a heartwarming thing,” Sgt. Joshua Echevarria said. “I don’t know if he fully recognizes me or remembers me, but I definitely remember him.”

A reunion of the Marines and the dogs was nearly a year in the making after U.S. Marines Sgt. Colin Bettner, Cpt. Britta Vivaldi and Echevarria found a pregnant, malnourished dog while deployed in southeast Asia.

“She was pretty much being starved and on death row,” Vivaldi said. “One of the Marines broke her out of the box in which she was being starved in and brought her over to our camp.”