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http://www.bouldernews.com/bdc/state_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2419_3031662,00.html

Iraqi kitten reunites with Fort Carson soldier

By Associated Press
July 12, 2004

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A cat named Pvt. Hammer has rejoined one of the Fort Carson soldiers who adopted him in Iraq, thanks to an organization named Alley Cat Allies that raised $2,500 for shots, sterilization and a plane ride to the United States.

"Only my husband would go to this extreme for a cat," said Sheri Bousfield, wife of Staff Sgt. Rick Bousfield of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team.

The tabby cat was adopted by the brigade's Team Hammer after he was born last fall at a base in Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad.

The soldiers, who named Hammer after their team, would tuck him under their body armor during artillery attacks. Hammer would catch mice in the mess hall — that earned him a promotion to private first-class — and help soldiers beat the blues.

"He was a stress therapist," Rick Bousfield said. "The guys would come back in tired and stressed. Hammer would come back and bug the heck out of you. He wiped away some worries."

When Bousfield learned his unit was leaving Iraq in March, he decided he couldn't leave Hammer behind. He e-mailed Alley Cat Allies, a national clearinghouse on stray cats, for help.

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Bousfield met the cat at the airport and took him to his Colorado Springs home. The Bousfields and their three children have four other cats, a dog, hamsters and two geckos.