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Marine's Iraq War Trophy Has Dog Breath And Growls

Tribune photo by JULIE BUSCH

Kujo, left, and Dexter romp in the backyard of their home in St. Petersburg. Matt Kirchgraber saved Kujo from death on the streets of Baghdad.

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 22, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - Scrawny but feisty and matted with the dust of war, Kujo's loyalty to his fallen litter mate touched something in Marine Lance Cpl. Matt Kirchgraber when the two first met this past winter on a battle-pocked street in Baghdad.

Kirchgraber rescued the shivering puppy, and both their lives have changed because of it.

It was freezing that night, Kirchgraber, 20, recalled this morning.

"It had snowed the night before," he said. "They said it was the first time it snowed in Baghdad in 120 years."

The puppy, which fit into Kirchgraber's hand, probably would not have made it through the night.

"He was shaking," the Marine said. "I wrapped him in my poncho and a blanket and brought him back."

The shepherd-mix mutt hung on. He was 2, maybe 3 weeks old when Kirchgraber found him during that foot patrol in the war-torn city. The dog he later would name Kujo was lying next to another puppy that was a lifeless casualty of war.

The unit was stationed on an Iraqi base, and Kirchgraber took the puppy there. Kirchgraber, who grew up in St. Petersburg, said he got a syringe from the medical unit and fed Kujo water and milk until the dog could eat solid food.

"He was eating what we were eating. Mostly MREs," the Marine said. "Sometimes we got hamburgers and hot dogs, too."

The unit cared for two dogs besides Kujo. They had been taken in by the Marines who were there before Kirchgraber's squad arrived. They served as guard dogs, and Kujo picked up that protective behavior from them.

During that time, Kirchgraber sent home photos of himself with Kujo, and his fiancée, Adela Vodenicarevic, noticed how happy the Marine looked. She contacted the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which has a branch called Baghdad Pups, an organization that arranges for animals adopted by troops in Iraq to get veterinary care and transportation to the United States.

The organization transports animals only if troops or their families agree to take them in. Kujo went from Baghdad International Airport to Washington Dulles International Airport, where he was kept for a week so veterinarians could check him out.

In April, Kujo got off a plane in Tampa en route to his new home in St. Petersburg, a million miles from the danger of car bombs, mortars and grenade launchers.

He spent two weeks with Vodenicarevic, who immediately fell for the pooch, Kirchgraber said.

"I know that Matt couldn't be more excited to get Kujo home," Vodenicarevic wrote on the Baghdad Pups Web site. "I will never truly know how much Kujo really means to Matt, but I know that I have never seen him go through this much trouble for a dog.

"It's important to him that he's brought home because the other Marines were leaving and there would have been no one to care for him after he left."

Two weeks later, Kirchgraber came home and he and Kujo were reunited.

Kirchgraber, who served seven months in Iraq, now is on reserve duty and is looking forward to attending a police academy for a career in law enforcement. He lives in St. Petersburg along with Kujo and Dexter, a 4-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever.

The two dogs are best friends, frolicking in the backyard of Kirchgraber's home on 16th Avenue North, playing keep-away with a chewed up red ball. When strangers arrive, Kujo growls menacingly at first but then relaxes.

"He's very protective," Kirchgraber said as Kujo plopped down on the cool tile floor next to him.

There are still issues, he said. Kujo gets agitated with other dogs when Kirchgraber takes him out for a walk. He's enrolled in a dog training program to improve that behavior.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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