Neda's Story

Neda Soltan Deckelman was found as a puppy by a U.S. Army Sergeant on the Afghanistan/Iran border. She was brought back to base camp where Lee Deckelman adopted her. She quickly became a member of BW Team 6.

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Neda’s soldier, Lee, was a retired military civilian working in Afghanistan as a contractor. Neda and Lee developed an incredible bond throughout his tour and he had contacted  Puppy Rescue Mission to help get her home. The amazing thing with Lee is that he wanted to pay Neda’s entire way home and additionally, wanted to donate to help other rescues come home as well as help to purchase crates.

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While still in Afghanistan, she contracted a deadly disease. And despite tremendous effort at the facility – which has limited supplies and equipment –  she did not make it home to Tennessee. Lee and his team members were devastated by the loss of Neda. She was bright, beautiful, brave and bold – loving and light-hearted – tough and tender. Her life may have been short, but it will now always be significant.

In her honor, Lee has vowed to fight for better equipment for the Afghan facility to help prevent this from happening again. In his own words: “I would love for anyone and everyone to donate any amount of money to Puppy Rescue Mission on Facebook in Neda’s honor. It’s now my mission to establish a fund for the overall transit shelter needs for PRM and increase their ability to manage sick animals. Just for starters, they could use some additional lab equipment for fecal samples, to ID infections. I want something positive to come from all this, that’s what Neda was all about!!!”

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To start The Neda Fund, Lee donated Neda’s entire transport amount to help PRM improve vet services in Afghanistan.

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Neda’s Fund is an ongoing, permanent gift option for Puppy Rescue Mission. It will be used to ensure the most important mission of these brave battle buddies is one that is completed in health and safety. Won’t you consider a gift in remembrance of Neda today?