A US soldier thought he’d never see his K-9 partner again. This holiday, both got a surprise to be thankful for

(CNN) — US Army Staff Sgt. Payton May and his military dog Yyacob spent their first Thanksgiving together in the throes of a mission in Iraq.

Yyacob was experienced at explosives detection. And May, back in the fall of 2021, was a new K-9 handler deployed overseas for the first time.

It was Yyacob, May would say years later, who helped him cope with the new environment and the “loneliness of deployment.”

“They see the best of you and the worst of you,” May recalled. “They’re there with you when you go to sleep, they’re there for you when you wake up … they give you a sense of purpose.”

On that Thanksgiving three years ago in Iraq, May and Yyacob shared a traditional holiday meal of ham and turkey in the room they shared on base.

Not long after, following nine months of bonding – sharing a twin-size bed and spending every second of the day together – the soldier learned he was being reassigned to Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas.

And Yyacob would not be joining him.

“It was kind of soul-crushing,” May told CNN. “You get used to being around this certain animal, you learn this dog, you put so much effort and time into this dog, and so much love is poured into him. And, of course, it’s kind of heartbreaking.”

Time did little to ease that pain, leaving May still coping 2 1/2 years later with not having his K-9 with him for the holidays.

Almost 2,000 miles away in Fort Drum, New York, Yyacob was struggling, too. He’d developed separation anxiety after leaving May and couldn’t be paired with another handler.

As it turned out, though, neither would have endure their anguish for too much longer.

The ‘unicorn job’ of the US Army

May, 26, comes from a family of pets and of military service, with great-great-grandparents, great-grandparents and great-uncles on both sides of his family having served in the US armed forces, he said.

But May was the first to work with a military dog.

He enlisted in the military at age 18, just four days after his high school graduation. And even given his family’s history of service, May considered leaving the Army in 2019.

Instead, he ended up applying to be a K-9 handler.

“I was at a point where I was like, ‘OK, I’m looking at getting out of the Army unless I could do something different,’ because I’m never the type of person to do the same thing for the longest time,” May said. “So, that’s when somebody brought up, ‘Hey, there’s this available, but it’s like a unicorn job, so it’s gonna be hard to get.’”

The job of a K-9 handler requires military training plus completion of a Military Working Dog Handler Course, from which May said he graduated from in 2020.

After that, he was off to Fort Drum to meet his new counterpart.

Yyacob, a Belgian Malinois and 4 years old at the time, was “nuts,” May recalled.

“He was a little bit of a wild child, little antsy boy, really anxiety-ridden dog,” he said. “You could just tell by his work ethic. He just feels like once he gets to work, he’s always moving, he’s always doing some craziness.”

Their bond was instant though, May said, even before the pair trained for a month to build their trust.

At the time, Yyacob was one of about 1,600 military working dogs, according to the Department of Defense. The dogs earned official status in the military with the creation of the Army K-9 Corps in 1942, trained to fulfill “detection, search, attack, and reconnaissance roles.”

In their first assignment, May and Yyacob helped protect and support high-ranking US government officials, May told CNN. Then in 2021, the pair deployed to Iraq for Operation Inherent Resolve, May said.

They returned together to US soil the following spring. But by June, the staff sergeant was headed to San Antonio.

“We literally got off the plane from Iraq back to New York, we went back to the base, and then I was literally going to Texas the next month,” May said. “So, it was really drastic how quick we were together every day to me not seeing him at all.”

A working dog closes out a brave career

Due to Yyacob’s separation anxiety, the Army couldn’t connect him with another K-9 handler, May told CNN. Instead, he was given a caretaker at his new base. He was no longer a working dog.

That’s when May – who’d begun caring for a new dog, Towzer – began petitioning the base to let his former partner retire, he said.

The 2016 National Defense Authorization Act requires K-9 handlers to be given first rights of adoption after their military working dogs retire. But finding a dog’s last handler can be difficult, said Lisa Schoch with the charity American Humane, which helps facilitate such adoptions.

When May heard Yyacob’s official last day might be getting close, he reached out to American Humane, the group recalled.

Then, sure enough, Yyacob earned his retirement this October.

An animal care expert at American Humane, April Smith, was assigned to bring him to his forever home – one he was sure to be familiar with.

She first stayed with Yyacob at Fort Drum for 48 hours to get him accustomed to retirement – and he adjusted quicker than most, she says.

“A lot of the dogs aren’t like that,” Smith said. “A lot of them are still kind of in work mode, but he settled right into retirement very quickly … He wasted no time making himself comfortable and getting that retirement started.”

Then, Smith booked a flight, with American Humane covering all the transportation costs, including Yyacob’s own seat on the American Airlines flight, she said.

They were headed, of course, to San Antonio.

‘I thought the moment would never come’

When Yyacob locked eyes with May on Monday, it was extraordinary how quickly he recognized his former handler, Smith said.

“Of all the dogs that I have transported for this program, Yyacob realizing who was there to see him … was so quick,” she said. “Sometimes it does take them a few minutes … but (with) Yyacob, it was instant. He knew exactly who that was.”

The reunion, May said, was both a long time coming and perfect timing.

“It didn’t really feel real at first,” he said. “It hasn’t really been that long, but it felt like it’s been forever. I thought the moment would never come.”

His old partner’s arrival came just as he was grieving the loss of another: Just a month earlier, Towzer had died.

“With the timing and everything, it just felt like it was supposed to happen this way,” May said of Yyacob’s return.

Now, American Humane has pledged to provide free veterinary care for the rest of Yyacob’s life – a relief to May, given the dog’s need for anxiety meds, he said.

“It takes a weight off of our shoulders, especially as military people, because we don’t make that much as it is,” May said. “And with the way things are nowadays, everything’s getting expensive, it just takes a whole load off of us.”

May, who now works as a Military Working Dog Handler Course instructor, deploys in April for Italy. He plans to have Yyacob “glued to his hip” as he travels, he told CNN.

“I plan on just seeing the world with him, getting him out and actually letting him live his life as a dog,” May said. “Whether that’s going to parks and throwing a ball with him or just riding around with me in the car, it doesn’t matter. Just (making) sure he’s with me. That’s all that matters to me.”

Today, the pair will celebrate their first Thanksgiving in a civilian home – with a king-size bed.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.