Photo By Spc. Scott Lindblom | Bryan Palmer, from Hanover, New Hampshire holds his stuffed animal Dawg and the awards...... read more read more
HUNTER ARMY AIRFIELD, Ga.— Sometimes the smallest things can mean the world to a person. A simple hello, a smile to cheer someone up, a photo of a loved one or a teddy bear.
For one young boy this became a reality.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Michael Campbell, battalion senior warrant officer, 603rd Aviation Support Battalion, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade led a team to recover an aircraft at Fort Polk, Louisiana, but gained a new mission after they checked into the Holiday Inn on March 8.
“The one night we were at the hotel and were getting a roll away bed,” Campbell said. “Normally a roll away bed is just white sheets and a tan blanket, so when I opened it up and saw red I thought this does not look very promising. Wait! It’s a stuffed animal.”
The red haired dog with green ears had one promising thing on his chest, a label with a name and number on it. The next morning, Campbell headed to Texas for recovery equipment with a new companion by his side.
“I called the number and his mother answered. I told her we had in our possession one Clifford the Big Red Dog with green paws,” Campbell said. “She flipped out and said that her son Bryan would be crazy about having it back.”
On the other end of the line was Elaine Palmer, mother to Bryan, who lives in Hanover, New Hampshire.
“We talked about Bryan, that he is ten and he likes to have Dawg when he sleeps,” Elaine said.
Elaine’s ten-year-old son Bryan, named his stuffed animal Dawg after his family gave it to him when he was just three years old.
Elaine explained that her family had used the hotel during Christmas while visiting her father-in-law. Bryan slept on the roll away bed that night, but in the chaos of packing on Christmas morning Dawg was lost inside the bed.
Campbell decided that because Bryan is ten-years-old and a Cub Scout, that he should do a little more than just mail Dawg back.
“I told her that he was going to be in our possession for a while. I told her that when we got back I will mail him back,” Campbell said. “So we started taking pictures with Dawg on our cross country trip. I put Dawg on the aircraft, then we took group pictures with him. Finally, I decided that I would take him on the aircraft for a flight with me.”
Campbell thought there was more that he could do for Bryan. He met with Lt. Col. Daryl von Hagel, commander 603rd ASB who also has a son that is ten. After the meeting, Campbell prepared Dawg for his journey home accompanied by a commander’s coin from von Hagel, a Certificate of Appreciation for Bryan and a medal for Dawg.
“It was kind of silly, but was fun. We gave the dog an Army Achievement Medal for his meritorious service as our mascot,” Campbell said. “I enlisted him in the Army as Private Dawg, and that is what we are, the Bulldawgs of Bravo company.”
While Dawg was on his journey, Elaine said she would receive pictures from Campbell, but he never told her about the medals or certificate. Meanwhile, Elaine never told Bryan that Dawg had been found or that he was on his way home.
Three months had passed since Bryan had saw his stuffed friend of eight years. All hope of seeing him again was gone. Or so he thought.
“Low and behold on Saturday, before Easter, a package arrived addressed to Bryan,” Elaine said. “Bryan was completely overwhelmed. He was speechless. He was just totally taken by surprise that Dawg had gone on such adventures.”
“I am surprised by how he got home,” Bryan said. “I like that he was in the military, I never thought he would be. It just surprised me.”
Finally, Elaine could show Bryan the pictures of Dawg’s journey with Campbell and the flight he took in an AH-64D Apache Helicopter over Savannah, Georgia.
“My favorite picture was with him on the night flight,” Bryan said.
Elaine called Campbell because Bryan wanted to thank him for returning Dawg. He had no idea what his mother and the Apache pilot were up to.
After Dawg’s medal was pinned onto his chest, it was Bryan’s turn to take a photo with Dawg and send it to Campbell. Bryan could not wait to share the experience with his friends. He gathered Dawg’s medals and his awards so he could show his class.
“He was just so excited and had to show his classmates. I hope he doesn’t leave anything,” Elaine said jokingly.
Campbell has small children of his own and explained that he wanted to give back a little and have fun with it.
“We are just trying to show this young man that we care,” Campbell said. “For everything that everyone else does for the military we just want to show that the Army appreciates it. We just thought we would do something nice for him. Now he has something to remember us by.”
Elaine expressed her gratitude about Campbell and everything that he did to return Dawg.
“He went above and beyond. I am so touched by the compassion and the professionalism of Campbell. He is such a wonderful guy,” Elaine said.
Sometimes the smallest acts of kindness can make the biggest impact on a boy’s heart.
| Date Taken: | 03.31.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 03.31.2016 16:09 |
| Story ID: | 194020 |
| Location: | SAVANNAH, GA, US |
| Hometown: | HANOVER, NH, US |
| Web Views: | 1,786 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Going above and beyond: Pilot re-unites boy with favorite stuffed animal toy, by SPC Scott Lindblom, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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