HOSCHTON, Ga. - The last time Ret. Lt. Col. Greg Pepin saw Lava Barwari she was just 36 days old--in Iraq. The baby girl was in her mother's arms and her parents were desperately trying to flee that country since they were on Dictator Sadam Hussein's kill list. The family is Kurdish, an ethnic group targeted by the former Iraqi government for genocide. Awaz Barwari was just 22 years old and her name was on the list of Kurds allowed to leave Iraq. But an Iraqi official told her newborn, Lava, could not go since her name was not on the list.
“I told the man I was not leaving without my baby. He said I could leave her with other family in Iraq or not leave Iraqi. So I said I wasn't leaving. Lt. Col. Pepin spotted the family leaving and intervened,” Barwari said. “I told them if the baby's name was ‘Greg,' she could come with me under my passport,” the Lt. Col. told FOX 5's Portia Bruner. They didn't understand what I was trying to do at first, but then they realized I was trying to help.” Baby Lava became “Baby Greg” and the family left Iraq that day in December 1996--always wondering what happened to the American soldier who secured their freedom with a simple name change. Read More