00:00Soldier faces impossible decision about the stray he rescued after his tour ends
00:13The bonds that military personnel forged during their services are unbreakable yet many of these close friends go their separate
00:20ways
00:21Once they return home only seeing each other on rare occasions or never again
00:25When one British soldier made an unlikely friend while serving in the Middle East
00:29He couldn't imagine being a part ever again, but once he had to leave his companion behind
00:34He drew up a plan for a dramatic reunion one he hoped would be permanent after two tours in Afghanistan
00:40Sean laid law figured he could handle anything Syria threw at him
00:44But when the British army deployed Sean and his comrades in the Royal Engineers in 2018
00:48He leaped into a rescue attempt that he never saw coming
00:51Sean was an expert at defusing and removing bombs the Syrian civil war had ravaged the country over the last
00:57several years
00:58Especially in the city of Raqqa while many buildings crumbled around him others still had undetonated explosives inside
01:04Even when Sean wasn't on patrol the army life was a grind exciting moments in the camp were few and
01:09far between and troop morale suffered greatly
01:12When Sean got a call to investigate a bombed-out school in February
01:15He was almost grateful as Sean patrolled the area
01:18He couldn't find anything out of the ordinary when he really focused
01:22However, he thought he could hear a faint whimpering somewhere under the rubble
01:25Sean followed the noise and started dicking it was a puppy the canine which appeared to be some kind of
01:31Asian Shepherd mix
01:32Backed away from Sean as he reached out Sean knew we had to do something to keep the poor thing
01:37But then a horrific sight made him recoil a few other puppies surrounded the one Sean had just found
01:42Tragically none of them had survived the collapse of the building now that the dog lost her family Sean realized
01:47He couldn't just leave her in the wreckage alone the pup still wouldn't go anywhere near strangers
01:51So Sean did the sensible thing he pulled out some water and a couple bites of food
01:55And that was enough to draw the reluctant animal out from her hiding place
01:58Soon after the orphaned canine let its guard down and allowed Sean to pick her up
02:02There was an immediate bond Sean decided to bring her back to base and introduce his new friend to all
02:07his squad mates
02:08First of course she would need a name Sean called her Barry and she soon became a fixture the Royal
02:14Engineers
02:14Barely ever leaving Sean's side once she got settled in Barry accomplished quite a bit of good as well
02:20The army interacted with a number of Syrian children many of whom lost their homes and family members amid the
02:26chaos and destruction
02:27Having a friendly dog roam around made a big difference in their lives
02:30Sean also believes that having Barry around gave him an escape from the stress and trauma of the military life
02:36Whereas some of his comrades develop mental illness or PTSD
02:39Sean at least had an outlet and a companion incredibly grateful to have such a valuable friend Sean said
02:45I feel like it may come across that I saved Barry's life, but I feel like she saved mine
02:50They got so close that Sean could no longer imagine being apart from Barry Barry became such a big member
02:55of the team that Sean
02:56Decided to make it official and sewed together a custom bomb squad vest for Barry
03:00Aside from being a big fashion statement the vest kept her protected from danger
03:04However, it turned out that her biggest threat was right around the corner in autumn of 2018 Sean received word
03:11that a stint in Syria was almost over
03:13He was going home, but only with one ticket what would happen to Barry once he left?
03:17He didn't know if he would ever see his dog again or even if she would still have a home
03:22at the army base
03:23Sean's comrades celebrated the entire trip back to the United Kingdom
03:27But Barry weighed heavily on his mind then an idea popped into his head
03:31He remembered hearing about a charity called war pause that helped reconnect veterans with their military dogs
03:36War pause workers seemed confident they could help Sean, but there were no guarantees
03:41They instructed him to go to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris to await the arrival of a military plane
03:47He waited nervously hoping Barry would be one of the passengers getting off as the airline staff rolled out a
03:53dog crate
03:53Sean recognized a familiar face peering through the door Perry made it to Europe after all holding back tears of
03:59joy
03:59Sean reached out to hand her a gift
04:01He got Barry a new and improved vest
04:03She took a look in the airport mirror to size up her new duds and her new surroundings the streets
04:09of Raqqa, Syria
04:10Where all Barry had ever known so Sean hoped she'd be able to adjust a British life easily enough with
04:15Barry back in his arms
04:16Sean returned home to Hornchurch, Essex
04:19She settled in immediately a far cry from the scared puppy that wouldn't come out from the ruined school
04:24Thanks to a stable home and a steady diet Barry grew like a weed to a full-grown dog
04:29Barry continued to live happily with Sean after going through so much together
04:33There's no doubt that this pair would never let anything split them apart ever again
