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.