Sunday 3 February 2008

Early retirement


Recently Lex, an 8-year-old bomb-sniffing German Shepherd attended the funeral of his best friend, a young Marine killed in Iraq. He was beside Cpl. Dustin Lee when Lee was killed in a mortar attack in Falluja. Wounded himself, Lex didn't want to leave Lee's side after the attack -- fellow Marines had to pull him away from the young man's body in order for medics to attend to him. Jerome Lee, the young Marine's father, lobbied the Marines hard for months to adopt the dog. Marine officials initially told Lee that it would be no problem to get the dog. But persuading the service to give up Lex before the dog's mandatory retirement at the age of 10 proved to be a challenge. One of the issues was making sure the dog was not "overly aggressive." Marine officials also said the request had to go through the Air Force, which in the US is the approving authority for all military dogs. After months of lobbying and negociations, Lex was finally relieved of his duties and went home to the Lee’s home in Mississippi. It is the first time the Marines have released a dog before its retirement to a former handler's family.

6 comments:

Flowerpot said...

What a wonderful dog. I hope Lex has a happy future.

jmb said...

I'm sure that will bring great comfort to his family but I can see why they were reluctant to give up such a well trained dog.

Anonymous said...

That has to be one of the most satisfying stories I have heard for a while.

Crystal xx

Whispering Walls said...

Hope he doesn't have post-traumatic stress disorder

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Yes, what a loyal dog and what a heartbreaking story. I hope he brings much comfort to the family

Eurodog said...

Thank you all for commenting.