July Real–Life Claim Story

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Love at first flight

Gabriel Meza grew up in a tough area of Norwalk, California. "I don't want to say I was fearless, but I didn't fear anything," he admits. The skills he acquired navigating the streets of his neighborhood com-bined with the knowledge he learned by studying hard in high school gave him a way out—and prepared him for the dangerous years ahead.

Taking his lead from his father, who was an Army "lifer" and worked on a base that housed military air-craft, Gabriel joined the Army when he was seventeen years old and served as a helicopter Crew Chief and mechanic for eight years. Had it not been for a back injury, he would have reenlisted. So he did the next best thing: he became a helicopter pilot for an organization that sent him oversees to Afghanistan for months at a time.

More than puppy love

One day flying in his helicopter in Afghanistan, Gabriel picked up passengers and cargo at a landing zone and spotted some orphaned puppies running around. He grabbed the closest one, a little "furball," tucked her under his arm and took her into the helicopter. Looking into her eyes, Gabriel immediately was smit-ten.

Gabriel looked at the puppy's massive paws and wondered what breed she was. He knew the only AKC-recognized breed in Afghanistan is the Afghan hound, and she definitely wasn't one of them. Later, Ga-briel learned that his pup belonged to what is commonly known as the Sage Kuchi breed, named after the Kuchi—a nomadic tribe that travels on camels across Afghanistan in caravans.

One thing Gabriel knew for sure: in Afghanistan, dogs of any breed don't have a very pleasant or long life, even when they were as adorable as his newfound puppy.

"That's why I had every intention of keeping this little puppy, protecting her and giving her one of the best lifestyles that she could get," Gabriel says.

Landing Zone Lizzy

When Gabriel's puppy first ran out of the aircraft at his home base, all the men gathered around her, ooh-ing and aahing. And everyone wanted a hand in naming her.

"When I first got her, I called her Baby Girl," Gabriel recalls. "Then we covered a dry-erase board with names, and one of the guys yelled out, 'How about Lizzy?' Lizzy is long for LZ, which is the abbreviation for landing zone. So I thought that was the perfect name!"