Peter Neesley
Sergeant, United States Army
January 11, 1979 – December 25, 2007
Age – 28
Grosse Pte Farms, MI
Operation Iraqi Freedom
3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Ft. Stewart, GA
1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany
Died of an undetermined cause in a non-combat environment in Baghdad
On Christmas Day 2007, Sgt. Peter Neesley died in his sleep in his Army barracks in Baghdad. During his tour in Iraq, Neesley had started taking care of two dogs, a stray Labrador mix and her pup. He named them Mama and Boris and even built them a doghouse just outside the military base. When Neesley died, his family decided to adopt the dogs and bring them to the United States.
Bringing the dogs home was one of Peter’s wishes. He had told his family in numerous phone calls and e-mails that his intentions when his tour was ended in July were to find a way to bring them home. He loved the brown-and-white pup, Boris, and his mother, Mama, very much.
To bring them to Michigan, the family started by reaching out for help through the local media. Through that, they got a phone call from the Best Friends Animal Society who spearheaded the whole thing. Gryphon Airlines, the only private airline allowed to fly in and out of Baghdad, volunteered the services of the plane to transport them in and out of Baghdad. And certainly none of it would have been possible either without the help of our local government officials.
Both Mama and Boris are very sweet and very mild-mannered dogs, but Mama is used to having to protect her pup, as well as her food and territory. So they’re just easing her into the fact that she’s safe and sound here, and nobody’s going to hurt them. The dogs also have to adjust to the Michigan winter as they are not used to the cold and snow.
They’re tremendous dogs, and the Neesley’s are so fortunate to have them and so grateful to everyone who played a part, down to the soldiers who were caring for them on the base until they arrived in the States. One of his fellow soldiers wrote: “I am still finding this very difficult to write and to express my grief of the loss of Pete. Everyday, I wake up and still look for him when I come to start my shift. I can still hear his voice. I still yearn for the laughter that I expected to get from him, everyday! Again, I’m still finding this a hard group of words to put together. I am the soldier who, along with another soldier, took care of the dogs. I am the one who ensured that they were both taken into custody and found their way into the hands that took them to his family. I have seen the news photos and tears come to my eyes to see them with his family.
Pete was my Sgt, team leader and friend. I miss him everyday and will continue to miss him. I apologize for not adding anything sooner, but the loss of my friend is still a heavy burden on my heart.
To know that the dogs are now with his family is a heartwarming and uplifting of my spirit.
I express my sympathy and heart to you, his family. Pete truly is missed here in Iraq by Apache Troop”