Craig & Fred

This is a true story about Sergeant Craig Grossi, a U.S. Marine, and a stray dog he came across during a 2010 deployment in Afghanistan. Craig was doing intelligence work with Marine RECON, the Corps' elite fighting unit, in a remote region when he spotted a scruffy young dog with an oversized head and short legs. Unlike other strays the patrol had seen, the dog seemed gentle and did not run with a pack. After Craig broke military rules to share some beef jerky, the dog began following him. A fellow Marine's teasing remark gave the dog his name, Fred, and a close bond formed.

The RECON fighters soon came to care for Fred too. They helped Craig sneak him into Camp Leatherneck, a heavily guarded base, hidden in a duffel bag, a move that could have cost them their freedom and put the dog in danger. Getting Fred the rest of the way to Craig's family in Virginia took help from a team of DHL workers, a sympathetic veterinarian, and a military dog handler. Months after Craig returned home, Fred was there for him as he struggled with post-traumatic stress.

Today Craig and Fred travel across the United States, visiting places from a swampy campground in a Louisiana state park to the streets of Portland, Oregon. Their story is about hope, resilience and optimism, and it argues that how we respond to hardship matters more than the hardship itself. It is a warm account of how love can change both a person's heart and his life.