Craig and Fred

A Marine, A Stray Dog, And How They Rescued Each Other

By Craig Grossi (Harper Collins, 2017)

Genre: Non-Fiction/Memoir

Via: Library

Pages (print): 266

“Looks like you made a friend,” his Marine Corps buddy quipped of the short-legged, floppy-eared stray dog who wandered into the USMC compound in Afghanistan.

But what author Craig Grossi heard was, “Looks like a Fred.” The name stuck. What unfolds next is one of the most touching, heartwarming and remarkable true animal stories we’ve ever read.

Even Kimber Her Royal Magnificence was impressed: “Fred is my new best bud! He’s like, Totally PAWsome!”

“Kimmi, you say that about everyone,” chirpeth Her Momness.

“So?”

Kimber: Mom swooped into the library and grabbed this book off the shelf the other day for two main reasons:

• Dog – hello?
• 2) Somone near and dear to our heart is a USMC vet. (And, yeah. We’ve spent more time in VA waiting rooms than we care to recall.)

Anyway, when we started this book, we really had no idea what to expect. Talk about a surprise. Kimber: “Like I said, Mom! PAWsome!” (Mom: Don’t get The Kimster started. I’ll never hear the end of it.)

“The echoing, tinny sounds of the ongoing firefight enveloped me. I head the strained, unfamiliar voices of marines saying, ‘Stay here, Sean. We need you. Don’t go. Don’t go. The repeated pop-pop-pop-pop-pop of machine gun fire overhead as Missenheim continued to work from the roof. The numbers Doc Jones spat rapidly into his radio. And finally, the steady thump-thump-thump of the medevac in the distance.”

Much More

First thing ya oughtta know about Craig and Fred is that it’s more than a dog rescue story. As the title suggests, it’s a dual rescue story. And a lot more. (Kimber: I’d stock up on tissue ‘fize you. I got Mom a whole pallet. Just sayin’.)

The Basics

‘Sides. There’s just something about a “jarhead” trying to get a dog who adopted him in the middle of a battlefield home to the States. Ditto fellow jarheads and total strangers, DHL staff, a loadmaster, a British vet, a military dog handler, and “a motley crew of dusty guys from all over the world, all devoted to this funny, sweet-hearted furball.” All pitch in to get Fred home. Not even the Halls of Montezuma or the shores of Tripoli are going to stop Craig from carrying out “Operation Fred.” This includes smuggling Fred out of the battlefield and onto an outgoing helicopter in a duffel bag – risking jail and Fred’s life.

There’s also the dog who epitomizes “stubborn positivity.” Besides the other sweet furry face we all know and love, of course.

So… With four months left in his Afghanistan deployment, Craig loads Fred onto a plane headed to JFK Airport. But as the plane lifts into the sky Craigs smiles and thinks, “There goes my dog.” Little did Craig know that the worst was yet to come.

There’s also:

• A first-hand account of the war in Afghanistan from a marine who was there.
• What if. What if. What if.
• “Combat tourists” and the “bureaucratic war machine.”
• Beef jerky, instant coffee, and wool socks.
• The “Lance Corporal Mafia.”
• Hellacious fighting and Craig’s recovery from a Traumatic Brain Injury.
• Craig’s struggles to adjust to civilian life after getting out of the marines.

Once home after leaving the Marine Corps, Craig loads up his vehicle with Fred and his vet buddy, Josh. Josh lost a leg to an IED. The trio piles into the geriatric Land Cruiser to spend the summer driving cross-country from Virginia to California and then Seattle, “showing his Afghan dog America.”

Three Parts

The story has three main parts or perspectives: 1) How Craig found Fred in Afghanistan and his tour in-country; 2) Craig’s personal back story, including how and why he joined the marines; 3) The coast-to-coast summer road trip and places, people, events, and experiences along the way.

Now, you’d think this structure might get confusing. But it doesn’t. An impressive creative talent, Grossi expertly weaves each piece of this complicated thread into a rich and robust tapestry of exquisite story-telling. It’s moving, challenging, insightful, and inspiring.

“Yes, I had been through a lot in Afghanistan. Yes, it affected me. Yes, I was dealing with PTS. Because of that, it seemed like people allowed me – or even expected me – to be negative and cynical. Fred not only showed me I didn’t have to be that way, but he helped me be better, just by being there. Probably knew it before, but I realized something loud and clear: it’s not what happens to you that matters, it’s about how you make meaning out of those experiences. If Fred could do that, then I could try to, too.”

Also, Grossi is not only a keen observer of the human and canine conditions, he’s also a gifted writer. He connects and conveys dialogue, scenery, settings, action, and emotions with a measure of eloquence and vivacity that’s pretty rare. Also: Photos!

Kindly note that this book includes a section in the back memorializing two of Craig’s marine buddies who lost their lives in Afghanistan. (Bring more tissue.)

We read Craig and Fred cover-to-cover in two days. One of us stayed up until 3:11 a.m. to finish. It’s that compelling.

Language Alert: This book contains some rough language. But it’s not gratuitous. So we’re willing to let it slide. This once.

Our Rating: 4.9