Nov 24, 2010

Lex, Marine Corps Bomb-Sniffer – His story

Posted by Bob under Dog Arthritis

Grab a box of tissues and read on…. 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 the Al Anbar province of Iraq, right next to Corporal 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 Corporal 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 Corporal 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, Mississippi, 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?’ ” For more of this story click the following from AARP, The Magazine

Watch the news the next couple of days for the veterinary care twist to the amazing story of Lex.  More posts to follow.

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