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January 22, 2012 6:43 PM

Lara Logan and the unforgettable "Bill"

By
Overtime Staff
Topics
Correspondent Candids

This is definitely not the kind of story we're used to hearing from Afghanistan.

It involves heroics, but no gunfire. It involves US Marines, military transport pilots, a CBS bureau chief, and "60 Minutes" correspondent Lara Logan-- all breaking the rules to rescue a little puppy named Bill.

As Logan told Overtime editor Ann Silvio, the story of Bill takes place in Afghanistan where she was recently on assignment, reporting on brothers serving in the US Marines. While working in the field, Lara and her producer Tom Anderson caught up with a group of Marines from the 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment. They had taken on a very special duty: saving Bill, an adorable orphaned puppy that was near death when they found him.

"You know, everyone has this image of Marines as jarheads and door-kickers" said Logan. "But when we got to this patrol base, we saw these guys sitting around caring for Bill. I just watched for a little while, and it was very clear from the first moment that all these Marines loved this little dog. They were mad about him."

It wasn't long before Logan fell for Bill, too. And in this video, you'll see how, in the midst of war, Logan and the Marines went to extraordinary lengths to try to save him.

Watch: 60 Minutes Overtime, 1.22.12
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16 Photos

Saving a puppy in Afghanistan

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Add a Comment See all 16 Comments
by JLVWALSH January 29, 2012 4:14 PM EST
As soon as I heard the part of the story that they were taking it to a shelter I screamed at the TV NO. You uneducated fools.I knew this story would not end well. Especially a shelter in a 3rd world country. Shelters harbor the most deadly of viruses because that's were a majority of pets are kept in a small area. People's pet's get ill they have no money they drop them off at a shelter. It's heartbreaking to hear this. Parvo is a hearty virus and can survive for weeks on surfaces although sometimes fatal can be treated with IV fluids anti vomiting medication and antibiotics. I'm a vet tech and I have a 10 year old long haired chihuahua who is a parvo survivor. She came into my clinic at 4 months old vomiting. The family had bought the dog from a puppy mill and it had never had vaccines. A $12 vaccine could of prevented this.When I told my dogs original owners the news and that the treatment was available they said they could not afford it. I told them she would get sicker but if you do take her to a shelter let them know she has parvo ( I knew the shelter in our town would turn them away ) Or come back to me and we will work something out. They brought her back to me the next day and she was close to death. It was Saturday the day before Easter. I told them I had a quarantine area available . They said they still had no money. I had them sign ownership over to the practice and I would make sure I would get her the help she needed. I took her home with me that night with IV fluids in her. I stayed up with her through the night. Medicating as needed. She was so weak in my career she was the sickest I've ever seen. I tried not to get attached but she was so cute. She weight 1.5lbs. She was so tiny. She is a drama queen. The original owners called her Meow because she acted like a cat. She likes going under the covers. After 10 days she was in the clear I called the owners to tell them she made it. They never called to check on her well being. They told me that their children were so devastated that they got another dog already ( can't afford vet bills but they could another dog) I told them to make sure they cleaned their home with parvosol,( you should really wait 8 weeks after a parvo outbreak and cleaning before you bring another pet into the same area) something I had told them to do at the beginning. Also to make sure their new pet was through all rounds of vaccines before being brought into their home. All you can do is try to educate people. So Here I had this little girl that had survived parvo. She was going to need lifetime care. Would I find her a home ? I never found someone that would be as good as me. I love animals but as a nurse in the field I work so many hours it was not fair to have a dog. I kept her anyway. I came home for lunch to walk her. I named her Dramah. She is my little survivor.
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by URunderarrest January 24, 2012 8:39 PM EST
Third Platoon did a fantastic job trying to save "Bill". God the news of his death touched me deeply. I can only imagine how Lara and the third platoon must have felt. That shelter in Kabul must need lots of support for those animals so everyone should inquire about it. Good reporting job Lara!
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by KathBaer January 24, 2012 10:03 AM EST
Puppy Rescue Mission does this every day for our soldiers and many come through the shelter and into the US weekly successfully! This is a wonderful thing Lara tried to do and that PRM does every day!
http://www.facebook.com/puppyrescuemission
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by navygirl23 January 24, 2012 4:32 PM EST
PRM was contacted about Bill. There have been several posts about him on their page.
by tb1980 January 23, 2012 11:25 AM EST
Bill got to know what Love is and knew his was Loved,thats all that matters! So Sad.....he is in a better place. Love my Dogs!Thank goodness they were able to save another life,God Bless them All!Go Marines.....
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by buckyjo January 23, 2012 7:50 AM EST
I love dogs.

I've always liked Lara.

What a nice and sensitive lady she is.

They should have hired her for the evening news instead of Katie Whats-her-name (she'd still be there).
Reply to this comment
by ElaineUO January 23, 2012 12:08 AM EST
I'm bothered by this story for a reason very different from what has been said so far. But, to start: It was GREAT that she tried to save the dog, and it breaks my heart that Bill didn't make it. She did the right thing.

But...I follow her Official Facebook page and, several months ago there was a post "I have news about Bill...he's bigger and has stopped teething.." (paraphrased). It feels disingenuous not to have mentioned that update here -- those of us who have "followed" Bill's story there were led to believe that he was very much alive. There were also reports from some TV station in TX about the plans for Bill to come "home" in November. Um...I feel like something doesn't add up here. I'm really, really sorry the dog died and I think it's great another dog was brought in his place (presumably because money had been raised to bring Bill here -- right?). But the WHOLE story isn't here. Was the post on Facebook a mistake? (Was it really about the *other* dog?) Am I missing something?

To be clear and end on a positive note: it's always the right thing to try to save a life, and it's clear that little life touched Lara's. Sorry the dog didn't make it. :(
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by ElaineUO January 23, 2012 12:25 AM EST
My turn to be chagrined. Looked over those stories I remembered about Bill and found one I had missed. (Kinda good news, right -- I haven't *totally* obsessed over the dog.) Turns out the Texas TV station *had* reported back in November that the dog had died. I'd missed that one. If I hadn't, I would have known the timeline and avoided my confusion. I apologize.
by loveapup January 22, 2012 11:35 PM EST
My heart broke into when I read the story, after all the little guy went through, was bottlefed and nursed back to health, only to succumb to a preventable disease, I know the men that cared for him were terribly sad and disappointed. I am so sorry he didn't make it back to the States to a loving home. To the marines that cared for Bill, thankyou for making a difference in that little dogs life, and doing all u could. God bless.
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by Transatlantique January 22, 2012 9:59 PM EST
Bill could have stayed at the CBS bureau. Didn't it dawn on these people that you don't leave someone you love with strangers, and that the standards for animal shelters there are different that those of the US? Why would it have cost so much to bring this puppy home, why thousands? Why wouldn't anyone at the bureau have bent their rules long enough to shelter him? I suppose it is better to have given him the love and care he deserved for the short period of his life rather than not at all, and that his death gave another a chance to live. But I'm an idealist, why couldn't they both have been saved? It doesn't make any sense. If people spent more time loving animals, there wouldn't be any wars. This story is like a bloom from a crack in the pavement, and so sad, happy sad.
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by MissNormaDesmond January 23, 2012 3:20 PM EST
I got kittens with distemper from a shelter in the U.S. Animals being brought in from the streets or from bad homes are frequently sick, everywhere. Why do you need to insult Afghanis? It's already a sad story, don't add to it by making it about one nation vs. another. As for why the dog couldn't have stayed at the CBS bureau, do you have a rescue dog at your place of business?
by campuzanod January 22, 2012 8:35 PM EST
why oh why would you Lara EVEN think about leaving Bill in a shelter there? You might as well have put a gun to his head and killed him...cause that's what you did without knowing. I good give a rats ass about the humans, but this puppy knew NOTHING BUT LOVE and happiness in the midst of all the bs overthere.
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by loveapup January 22, 2012 9:04 PM EST
Why was Bill left at a shelter anyway? Was that the only alternative?
by MissNormaDesmond January 23, 2012 3:21 PM EST
Because that's the plan the Marines came up with. Are you criticizing them as well?
by KayCronin January 22, 2012 8:12 PM EST
I just picked up, at the Dulles International Airport, a rescued pup from Yemen that my daughter spent some grueling hours and days rescuing and preventing his euthanization along with many more pups and dogs. He is safe now in the US because of her efforts. She named him Yemmy and is with us until her safe return in March. She is with the embassy in Yeman as a special agent with the Dept. of State. I would like her efforts to be recognized as well because she went above and beyond the call of duty to rescue a living being.
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by tmonta67 January 23, 2012 3:02 AM EST
Call your local press. Posting a comment online isn't the best exposure if you want your daughter to be recongnized.
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