Thousands of miles from home, surrounded by the uncertainty of deployment, Second Lieutenant Aaron Harring-Spoerl found comfort in an unexpected friend. A small orange stray cat had begun appearing outside a recreation facility in Baghdad, quietly asking for food and attention from the soldiers stationed there. Harring-Spoerl could not have known it then, but those simple encounters would grow into a friendship strong enough to cross continents. The little cat offered something difficult to find so far from home: companionship, familiarity, and a few peaceful moments in an otherwise demanding environment.
Harring-Spoerl, a Wisconsin Army National Guard soldier who grew up in Stoughton, spent 367 days overseas. His deployment took him through Kuwait, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq, including time supporting a diplomatic mission in Baghdad. While at the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center, Harring-Spoerl began noticing the orange stray outside a recreation facility known as the Oasis. The cat was small, hungry, and eager enough to approach the people nearby.
“He was right outside begging for food. He was a lot smaller than he is now,” Harring-Spoerl recalled.
Before long, Harring-Spoerl and other soldiers were sharing food with the little visitor and spending time with him whenever they could. What began as an effort to help a hungry stray gradually became something meaningful for everyone involved.
Harring-Spoerl fed the cat whenever possible and welcomed his company. In return, the friendly stray gave the soldiers moments of comfort during a long deployment far from their families and everyday lives.
“Because he helped my morale as much as I helped him,” Harring-Spoerl said.
For soldiers living thousands of miles from their usual support systems, the presence of an animal could provide a welcome emotional outlet. A cat asking for affection or simply sitting nearby could briefly make an unfamiliar place feel a little more like home.
Lori Kalef, director of programs for SPCA International, explained that these relationships can become particularly important for service members deployed in conflict regions. Dogs and cats can provide companionship and a sense of unconditional affection in circumstances where both may be difficult to find.
A Goodbye That Wasn’t the End
Eventually, Harring-Spoerl’s unit had to leave the area, forcing him to say goodbye to the orange cat. He worried about what might happen once the soldiers were gone, especially with fewer people around to feed or protect him.
“I knew there wouldn’t be a lot to care for him, and I was worried that the wild Iraqi dogs would get to him,” he said.
For a while, Harring-Spoerl had no idea what had become of his little friend. Then the cat’s story took an extraordinary turn. An explosive ordnance disposal technician was clearing a route near Baghdad’s airport when the orange cat suddenly appeared. Showing remarkable confidence, the cat approached the technician, rubbed against his legs, and even wandered close enough to rub against unexploded ordnance.
The technician quickly moved him somewhere safer. The cat was placed inside a vehicle, and the Baghdad Embassy Cat Coalition, affectionately known as the “Kitty Committee,” was contacted.
The group, made up of embassy employees, contractors, and service members, looks after cats living around the embassy and helps arrange veterinary care. The rescued orange cat eventually received a name: Sully, inspired by Sully Compound near where he had been found.
Harring-Spoerl later began volunteering with the same group. When he mentioned that he was interested in adopting a cat, volunteers showed him some of the animals in their care. Then he saw a face he knew.
“They were showing me available cats and I recognized Sully,” Harring-Spoerl recalled. “And I’m like, this is the cat. I had him!”
He immediately searched through his phone for photographs from their earlier time together. The images confirmed what he already believed. Sully was the same little orange stray he had fed and befriended weeks earlier. The cat he feared he might never see again had somehow found his way back into his life.
Bringing Sully Home
Getting Sully from Iraq to Wisconsin was far more complicated than simply booking a flight. SPCA International stepped in through its Patriot Pets program, which helps U.S. service members bring home dogs and cats they have befriended while deployed.
The process can involve veterinary examinations, vaccinations, international paperwork, transportation arrangements, and changing travel restrictions. For Sully, the journey became especially difficult because of restricted airspace and limited flight availability.
Harring-Spoerl returned to Wisconsin on June 3, but Sully remained behind. An attempt to secure transportation in early July fell through as travel conditions changed. Waiting from thousands of miles away was difficult. Whenever Harring-Spoerl heard reports about violence or attacks in the region, his thoughts returned to Sully.
“It was nerve wracking,” he said. “It became rather worrying because it’s like, that’s my cat. I want him to be cared for.”
Flights were crowded, cancellations complicated plans, and transporting an animal was rarely a priority. Yet SPCA International continued working to find a safe route for Sully. Eventually, the opportunity they had been waiting for arrived.
Sully boarded a cargo flight from Iraq to New York. After clearing U.S. Customs, he was handed between transporters who helped carry him west toward Wisconsin and the person who had been waiting months to see him again. Harring-Spoerl met Sully in Wauwatosa.
After a roughly 16-hour flight and months apart, Sully was understandably nervous. Harring-Spoerl climbed into the back seat of the vehicle and patiently encouraged him to leave his crate with a treat. Soon, the familiar connection began returning.
“I got to spend that whole car ride loving with him,” Harring-Spoerl said. “He was letting me pet him. He was looking around, adventuring.”
For a cat who had once survived outdoors in a conflict zone, everything was suddenly different. Instead of searching for food outside a military facility, Sully was heading toward a quiet Wisconsin home where food, shelter, and affection would be waiting every day. The adjustment did not take long.
Within just a few days at Harring-Spoerl’s parents’ home near Stoughton, Sully was cuddling with his new family, sleeping beside them, and happily accepting pets and being held. The once homeless cat appeared ready to embrace his new life indoors.
Sully was not the only feline who helped the soldiers through their deployment. Harring-Spoerl said his group became known as the “cat platoon,” and his platoon sergeant eventually adopted another cat through the same program.
For Harring-Spoerl, however, bringing Sully home carried a deeply personal meaning. During a difficult year overseas, a small orange stray had offered companionship without asking for anything beyond food, kindness, and a little attention. Now Harring-Spoerl finally had the chance to return that kindness.
“He helped me out a lot mentally over there. He helped my soldiers out a lot mentally,” Harring-Spoerl said. “I wanted to do the best that I can to care for him because no cat deserves to be in a war.”