A puppy who was plucked from the front lines in war torn Afghanistan and tucked safely in a backpack will soon be reunited with the soldier who saved his life.

The floppy-eared grey and white pup crawled into the heart of thousands of Americans when an iconic photo of him appeared on the cover of Army Life magazine last year, with his head poking out sleepily from Donny Eslinger's backpack.

Eslinger, of Seminole County, Florida, was serving in Afghanistan last August when he rescued Smoke, who quickly became a morale booster when a member of Donny's company was killed the next day, reported the Orlando Sentinel.