Family adopts slain son's military dog
Family adopts slain son's military dog
Fri Dec 21, 11:22 PM ET
A military working dog wounded in Iraq during a rocket attack that killed its Marine handler was adopted Friday by the slain Marine's family.
Cpl. Dustin Lee's family planned to take home the bomb-sniffing dog - named Lex - on Saturday after the 8-year-old German shepherd was granted early retirement. It was the first time a working dog was granted retirement to live with the handler's family, officials said.
"Nobody can do anything to replace the void in this family," said Col. Christian Haliday, commander of the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, where Lee and Lex were assigned.
"We hope Lex can bring a small piece of his spirit and help maintain his memory," he said.
On hand for a ceremony at the base were the Marine's parents, Jerome and Rachel Lee, his sister, Madison, 16, and brother, Camryn, 12, of Quitman, Miss.
"It's not going to bring back my brother, but it's something close to it," said Madison Lee as she played with Lex after the ceremony.
Military officials initially told the family that Lex had another two years of service before he could be adopted. But the family lobbied for months - even enlisting the aid of a North Carolina congressman - and the adoption came exactly nine months after the 20-year-old Marine was killed and his dog wounded on March 21 in Iraq's Anbar Province.
2nd Lt. Caleb Eames, spokesman for the Albany base, said Lee and Lex were sitting outside at a forward operating base in Karmah when they were hit by shrapnel from a 73mm rocket explosion.
"A part of Dustin is in Lex," said the fallen Marine's father. "To have Lex at home is a part of having Dustin at home."
Rachel Lee said she believes her son's spirit will live on through the dog because of their close bond and because they were together during the final moments of her son's life.
"It was blood on blood," she said. "We can't get Dustin back, but we have Lex."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071222/ap_on_re_us/slain_marine_s_dog
Fri Dec 21, 11:22 PM ET
A military working dog wounded in Iraq during a rocket attack that killed its Marine handler was adopted Friday by the slain Marine's family.
Cpl. Dustin Lee's family planned to take home the bomb-sniffing dog - named Lex - on Saturday after the 8-year-old German shepherd was granted early retirement. It was the first time a working dog was granted retirement to live with the handler's family, officials said.
"Nobody can do anything to replace the void in this family," said Col. Christian Haliday, commander of the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, where Lee and Lex were assigned.
"We hope Lex can bring a small piece of his spirit and help maintain his memory," he said.
On hand for a ceremony at the base were the Marine's parents, Jerome and Rachel Lee, his sister, Madison, 16, and brother, Camryn, 12, of Quitman, Miss.
"It's not going to bring back my brother, but it's something close to it," said Madison Lee as she played with Lex after the ceremony.
Military officials initially told the family that Lex had another two years of service before he could be adopted. But the family lobbied for months - even enlisting the aid of a North Carolina congressman - and the adoption came exactly nine months after the 20-year-old Marine was killed and his dog wounded on March 21 in Iraq's Anbar Province.
2nd Lt. Caleb Eames, spokesman for the Albany base, said Lee and Lex were sitting outside at a forward operating base in Karmah when they were hit by shrapnel from a 73mm rocket explosion.
"A part of Dustin is in Lex," said the fallen Marine's father. "To have Lex at home is a part of having Dustin at home."
Rachel Lee said she believes her son's spirit will live on through the dog because of their close bond and because they were together during the final moments of her son's life.
"It was blood on blood," she said. "We can't get Dustin back, but we have Lex."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071222/ap_on_re_us/slain_marine_s_dog
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+1 for the marine corp 0 -
I think that was a very nice thing to be done, on all sides!
Have seen it several times on the news.[;)]0 -
i saw it too, but in all due respect....seems the dog was defective. his master got blown up. dog didnt detect the bomb, thus the military diposed of the defective dog.
turned out to look like a kind act, but...[?]
just my take on it.0 -
A military working dog wounded in Iraq during a rocket attack that killed its Marine handler was adopted Friday by the slain Marine's family. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by bobski
i saw it too, but in all due respect....seems the dog was defective. his master got blown up. dog didnt detect the bomb, thus the military diposed of the defective dog.
turned out to look like a kind act, but...[?]
just my take on it.
What bomb?
I know plants have feelings, but how is it you can type?0 -
quote:Originally posted by bobski
i saw it too, but in all due respect....seems the dog was defective. his master got blown up. dog didnt detect the bomb, thus the military diposed of the defective dog.
turned out to look like a kind act, but...
The only thing that seems defective is your reading comprehension....
Cpl. Lee wasn't killed by an IED.0 -
quote:Originally posted by Rack Ops
[The only thing that seems defective is your reading comprehension....
Thats our Bobski! Don0 -
"2nd Lt. Caleb Eames, spokesman for the Albany base, said Lee and Lex were sitting outside at a forward operating base in Karmah when they were hit by shrapnel from a 73mm rocket explosion."
uh fella's, we call that indirect fire. An IED is a different animal.
This is a 73mm Rocket ( https://naveodtechdiv.jeodnet.mil/AfghanOIG/PDF-low/06-Rocket.pdf ), and it is not uncommon for them to "point and shoot" at various US Base Camps during the course of a day.
The loss to the family is horrible, but I thought it was a gracious move by the Marines to allow the dog to spend the remainder of his life with the Lee Family.
NS0 -
quote:Originally posted by Night Stalker
...we call that indirect fire...
This is a 73mm Rocket ( https://naveodtechdiv.jeodnet.mil/AfghanOIG/PDF-low/06-Rocket.pdf ), and it is not uncommon for them to "point and shoot" at various US Base Camps during the course of a day.
Sound pretty direct to me.0 -
DWS,
They usually lay it (elevated) on a few rocks and point it in the general direction of a TGT, or base camp. They walk away from it and a time delay fuse, or a rudementory timer usually ensures it comes screaming over the Hesco barriers and skids across the ground w/o much fanfare. Other times, men die.
I'll never understand the random nature of death in that place. So many times folks stroll away from a near ambush without so much as a scratch, and other times, well, CPL Lee is taken from the ranks.
NS0
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