Atlanta soldier reunites with puppy saved during Kosovo deployment

DALLAS, Ga. - After serving for nine months overseas, a metro Atlanta soldier has finally reunited with a puppy he saved on deployment.

It was all made possible through the nonprofit Paws of War, which has been helping reunite military members with dogs and cats for the last 10 years.

"I'm so lucky. I can't tell you how happy I am to have him here," U.S. Army Specialist Landon Gnade said.

Spc. Landon Gnade, from Paulding County, never thought he would be able to bring the dog he saved in Kosovo home to Georgia.

"He was like, I kid you not, like a sphere, almost like a dodgeball, like if you could pick him up like a circle. It was the most adorable thing I've ever seen in my life. Most adorable puppy ever," Gnade said.

He said locals would often leave puppies at their camp. One of them, whom he named Lepo after a nearby town, would not leave his side.

"It was a shock to me to see how close I got to Lepo because I didn't go in looking for a connection. I had dogs back at home," Gnade said.

"In due time, I was like, ‘I love this dog,’" he added.

Gnade said they would work with the dogs, teaching them tricks and getting them used to a leash. Those are times he says he cherished.

"When those days were hard, I won't lie, having Lepo by my side helped a ton, being able to pet and love on an animal," Gnade said.

When Gnade's deployment ended in October, Paws of War stepped in, working for two months to bring Lepo to Georgia, even getting him his own passport, and finally reuniting the pair this week.

"The trauma of them having to leave an animal behind—we don't ever want them to have to make that sacrifice," Gary Baumann of Paws of War said.

Gnade said returning from deployment can be hard, but having Lepo by his side to support him again makes it that much easier.

"It's comforting. It's awesome. Because I'm not going through it alone; he's right there beside me," he explained.