Not photoshopped beam of light shines on fallen soldier’s dog

A photoshoot for the television program 20/20 has caused the photographer to wonder about life after death.

Justin Rollins had been killed in the line of duty in Iraq. Before his death he emailed pictures of him playing with a puppy he had found. Army officials attending the funeral asked the family what they could do to help, as is customary. They asked if the puppy could be found and sent to them. 

The chances of finding her were one in a million. However an all out massive search by soldiers in Justin’s battalion located the puppy and she was flown to her new home in New Hampshire.

ABC photographer, Kimberly Launier, was filming the story for 20/20 while Justin Rollin’s parents, Skip and Rhonda, were playing with the dog, Hero. Launier wrote:

Sometimes when Rhonda hugged Hero she would softly pet her face and coo, “Justin, are you in there?” It was Rhonda’s gentle way of remembering their son and his last living connection to Hero.

At one point, Hero wandered off and took a stroll in the backyard. All of a sudden, the clouds broke and a light began to solidify in a beam directly down on Hero — a kind of vertical halo. As this dramatic ray of light was shining on Hero she turned to look at me, and it was all I could do to hold the camera steady and not drop it in astonishment. It was an unforgettable moment, and made me wonder if in fact Justin was in there. Then the light vanished.

I couldn’t wait to check my camera’s playback to see if it caught the stunning beam. When I saw that it did, I was so happy that I burst out dancing. It was a great moment to share with Justin’s parents. We all laughed together, and wondered if perhaps this had been a sign from Justin.

From ABC website

Comments

[threecollie]

Sweet and perfect

[Christine]

What a beautiful story!

Sam

[jackie]

made me weep

[Stem Cell Therapy for Dogs]

Such a nice story.

[georgia little pea]

that's a lovely story. i'm glad the puppy got a good home.

[Susan Castriota]

Wonderful story, I cried when the ray of light shown on that dog, amazing!

[Khyra]

Thanks fur sharing -

It rated a WOW from here!

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra

[Phil Abramsky]

This is a phenomenal blog entry. Honestly, it shows the true bond between dog and master...no matter how far away or if the master has moved on to the afterlife.

[Anji]

The way I work, I believe that it was a message. I've got tears in my eyes as I type this.

It's also good to know that such an effort was made to find that puppy - it seems thay got the right one

[Heather]

Beautiful