Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman (Ret.)

Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman (Ret.)

Retired Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman was serving in the battle of Fallujah in 2004. In an abandoned house, Marines came across a tiny stray puppy who was, even at 5 weeks old, brave enough to challenge them. So the warrior and the little dog with a big heart became companions, despite military regulations against keeping pets in a combat zone. Kopelman was determined to save someone from the hell of war, and it turned out to be the puppy he named Lava. Kopelman’s books, “From Baghdad With Love” and “From Baghdad to America” recount his struggles to bring Lava home to America, and the efforts of man and dog to overcome PTSD as they adjusted to their lives after Iraq.

Who’s the hero? Both. As Kopelman says, “I may have saved Lava, but he saved me back.”

Kopelman and his family, including Lava and their other pets, live in Southern California, where Kopelman is the executive director of Freedom Is Not Free, a non-profit organization.  Freedom is a Not Free assists wounded service members and their families, through financial grants and programs that provide support and healing activities for families of the wounded, particularly their children.

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