For the first time ever, four U.S. Military Service dogs have received a new award: the K-9 Medal of Courage. According to Stars and Stripes, the medal is the nation’s highest honor for military dogs, acknowledging their extraordinary valor and service, awarded by the American Humane Association.
As reported by Stars and Stripes, the Four Dogs are:
• Isky: “Isky found at least five deadly IEDs and 10 weapon caches as an explosive-detection dog deployed with his handler Army Sgt. Wess Brown in July 2013. The two spent a year protecting U.S. political leaders, including President Barack Obama.”
• Matty: “a Czech German shepherd, was a bomb-detection dog in Afghanistan. Now retired Army Spc. Brent Grommet, his handler, says that Matty saved his life and the lives of everyone in his unit more than once. The two were wounded together, including being in a truck that was hit by two roadside bombs.”
• Fieldy: “a black Labrador retriever, served four combat tours in Afghanistan, where he worked to detect explosives. Handler Marine Cpl. Nick Caceres spent seven months deployed with Fieldy in 2011 and adopted him three years later when the lab was discharged.”
• Bond: “a Belgian Malinois, worked 50 combat missions and deployed to Afghanistan three times. He was a multipurpose dog with a special operations unit before he retired. Bond suffers from combat trauma and will be reunited with his handler, who will leave active duty in a few months.”
Read the full original report on Stars and Stripes here.
(H/T Stars and Stripes)
July 21st, 2016