The wonderful canines who devote their lives in service to us

Published 9:38 pm Thursday, September 10, 2015

By Leonard Rizzo

 

This story has run before but I would like to revisit it since my Special Cases column falls on September 11 this year.

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My purpose is straightforward: to enlighten and educate as many people as I can and to raise monies for those who don’t have a voice.

My passion for the animals is well known, especially to my children, two of whom are top sergeants in the Army, Kim and Jason.

Jason, an Army Ranger, has told me stories of the canine corps and their heroics. A few months ago I was invited to Fort Benning, Ga. where Kim and Jason brought me to a magnificent memorial to canine corps.

Beneath the statue was a large plaque of all the soldiers (that is what the troops call their dogs) who gave their lives in battle. I stood there mesmerized and in awe as the tears rolled down my cheeks. What follows is a true story originally written by Geoff Brown.
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The rocket came in fast, maybe 900 feet per second, too fast for anyone to sound the warning siren, and much too fast for all the troops of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force to take cover. It was March 21, 2007, when the 73-millimeter insurgent-launched rocket exploded inside their base in Al Anbar province of Iraq, right next to Cpl. Dustin Jerome Lee and his canine partner, Lex.

Lee, a 20-year-old Mississippi native, was gravely wounded by the blast. Lex, a German Shepherd, trained to sniff out hidden explosives, was also injured, his brown and black fur burned, shrapnel lodged in his back and spine.

Marines on the scene watched as the bleeding Lex climbed on top of Cpl. Lee to protect him from further harm. They saw Lex try to revive his master by licking his wounds. And the Marines who rushed to their comrade’s side had to peel Lex reluctantly off the young corporal so medics could try to save him. But Cpl. Lee’s injuries were too severe; he died at a nearby military hospital.

A few days later two uniformed Marines arrived at the Lee family home in Quitman, Miss., to deliver the news of the corporal’s death.

“After the Marine Corps representative told us everything that happened,” recalls Dustin Lee’s mother, Rachel, “my next question was – and I’ll always remember it – what about Lex?”

The Marines seemed puzzled, “We’re not sure,” they said. “We know he’s alive. Why?”  “The more we talked, the more I wanted Lex to be at Dustin’s funeral,” Rachel says.  “After hearing that Lex climbed on top of Dustin as they both bled…Lex and Dustin shared a bond, and now that bond is a blood bond. Lex was the last to see my child. I wanted him there at the funeral with me.”

Despite being shaky from his injuries, Lex, the Maine dog, made it to Dustin Lee’s funeral. He and Dustin’s younger brother, Camryn, then 13, even played together for a while (the Lees also have a daughter, Madyson). Several top Marine Corps officers attended the March 2007 service in Quitman, Miss. and Rachel Lee had another question for them.
She wanted to know how they could adopt Lex as Rachel didn‘t want Lex to return to service – and into harm’s way.

Throughout 2007, Rachel pressed the Marines for an answer. Red tape and regulations thwarted her – as did grief.

“I was in a fog,” she says of that period. “I don’t remember a whole lot. But my dad, my husband, my brothers, they were all pursuing.”

In December 2007 the Lees’ phone rang and Rachel answered. Lex had been granted an early discharge. The Lees could come pick him up.

Thy drove seven hours to the Marine Corps base at Albany, Ga. where, in a ceremony, Lex was discharged from duty and presented to them. State police from Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi provided a rotating escort all the way home, as did motorcycle groups such as the Christian Motorcyclist Association and Patriot Guard Riders.

When Lex arrived in Quitman, he made himself right at home.

“It was amazing how Lex became part of our family on day one,” Jerome says. “Lex had that special bond with Dusty and part of Dustin is in Lex. It’s like he knows where he is and who we are. He wants to help us cope with our grief.”

Today Rachel says, “Lex walks with me everywhere. That’s the bond I also feel with Dustin. I look at Lex and I learn so much about working dogs, and their importance. It encourages me to go on. That’s what Dustin would have wanted. To take my hand and put it on Lex, it’s a healing experience.”

I have often placed the Lee family in my prayers when I pray for injured and fallen soldiers, and, of course, when I thank the Lord for all the wonderful canines who devote their lives in service to us, Lex gets personal attention.

Thanks for listening.