The Heart-Wrenching Tale of Some Marines Who Tried to Save a Puppy in Afghanistan

Ladies and gentleman, grab your tissues because this is one emotional roller coaster of an animal rescue story. Okay, here we go... While stationed in Afghanistan, some marines were on patrol when a man walked up and handed them a box with a tiny puppy inside. He was only about 10 days old and clinging to life. The marines, God bless them, nursed the puppy, whom they named Bill, back to health.

Around that time, CBS reporter Lara Logan met up with these marines, and Bill, while covering them on an assignment. She learned that the marines were soon leaving Afghanistan, and couldn't take Bill with them. One of them, Sgt. Jon Staffen, had found an animal sanctuary in Kabul that would get Bill safely to back to America—but they needed to raise the money to pay for it. The one problem? They couldn't figure out how to get Bill from where they'd been in southern Afghanistan back to Kabul—until Lara Logan stepped in and volunteered to smuggle the puppy back with her on the plane.

She succeeded—in what might be the cutest plane ride ever. Then, after the long and heartwarming journey, just when you expect to see a shot of Bill frolicking on some suburban lawn, the unthinkable happens. We find out that precious Bill the puppy has come down with a case of parvovirus at the shelter he was taken to...and he dies from it. Oh, Bill! Poor, tiny little Bill. Seriously, I will give you a few minutes to pull yourself together, because there is a bit of good news that comes out of all of this.

Okay, dry your eyes, if you can. By the time Bill died, Sgt. Staffen had raised enough money to have him sent to the US, so he decided, even if Bill couldn't go, that he'd adopt another dog in Bill's place. And so it was that Holly, another very cute dog from the shelter in Kabul, came to live in Louisiana, where she now enjoys life as Sgt. Staffen's pet. And now, please feel free to commence your quiet weeping.

Lara Logan and the unforgettable "Bill" [CBS News]