Memorial Archives - Page 2 of 2

A Memorial to Lance Cpl. William Crouse IV

Lance Cpl. William H. Crouse IV and his detection dog Cane.

Lance Cpl. William H. Crouse IV, 22, was killed in action Dec. 21, 2010, along with his detection dog Cane by an IED in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He was from Woodruff, S.C., attached to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 10th Regiment from Camp Lejeune, N.C. Reports were that even as he lay dying, Lance Cpl. Crouse demanded that his wounded dog be put into the Medevac helicopter with him. They were evacuated together, but both died.

Thanks to Dennis Herrick for sharing his memorial with MWDTSA.

Memorial

A Memorial to Colton Rusk

Marine Pfc. Colton Rusk, 20, was shot on Dec. 6, 2010, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, I Marine Expeditionary Force based out of Camp Pendleton, Calif. A native of Corpus Christi, Texas, he was only six weeks into his first deployment. His dog, Eli, a black Laborador retriever, was not injured. Eli had crawled on top of Pfc. Rusk’s body during the firefight to shield him. The Defense Department allowed Pfc. Rusk’s family to adopt Eli.

Rest in peace, young Marine.

Thanks to Dennis Herrick for sharing his memorial information.

Memorial

A Memorial to James Ide

Staff Sgt. James R. Ide V, 32, was killed Aug. 29, 2010, near Hyderabad, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, when his unit was attacked with small-arms fire. He was a specialized dog handler with the 230th Military Police Company, based in Sembach, Germany. He was a native of Festus, Mo. Sgt. Ide left a wife and two children. His dog Ddaphine was a 4-year-old Belgian malinois, which was wounded but survived. Staff Sgt. Ide was a veteran of two tours in Iraq and a tour of duty in South Korea.

Many thanks to Dennis Herrick for allowing me to borrow this memorial.

Memorial

A Memorial to Jeffrey Standfest

Cpl. Jeffrey R. Standfest, 23, was killed in action June 16, 2010, in an IED explosion in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Cpl. Standfest was a dog handler with the 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force. Cpl. Standfest had recently suffered a concussion in an IED explosion that killed his first dog. He had returned to duty with a new dog looking for more IEDs when he and that dog were killed. He was a native of St. Clair, Mich.

Thanks to Dennis Herrick of the VDHA for sharing this memorial.

Memorial

A Memorial to Jason L. Norton

Sgt. Jason L. Norton, 32, was killed in action Jan. 22, 2006, in Taji, Iraq, when his armored Humvee was struck by an IED. He was a patrol and dog-unit NCO assigned to 3rd Security Forces Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. Sgt. Norton, a patrol and K-9 officer, had been stationed in Alaska in 2002-2004. Sgt. Norton was a native of Miami, Okla., and left a wife and two children.

This is the second of several memorials that I will be placing on the Blog. I’ve personally always had trouble writing about our Handlers and Dogs who have died because I feel it can be very intrusive on the families and we certainly want to show them respect. Fortunately for me, Dennis Herrick, the editor of DOGMAN, with whom I have have shared some of my articles, did me the courtesy of sharing a gracious and respectful set of memorials with me. They will be posted on the Blog one at a time. With each posting, I hope you will remember the team, the handler’s family and friends who still mourn and the military family left to mourn a loss of their own.

With deep respect,
Dixie

Memorial

A Memorial to Adam Cann

Sgt. Adam L. Cann, 23, died trying to protect his fellow soldiers and civilians at a police recruitment center on Jan. 5, 2006, at Ramadi, Iraq. When his dog Bruno became agitated by the scent of explosives, according to witnesses, Sgt. Cann confronted a suicide bomber, who then detonated a vest. Bruno was wounded but recovered. Sgt. Cann had served a combat tour in Afghanistan and was on his second tour in Iraq. He was attached to the 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force. He was from Davie, Fla. Sgt. Cann was the first U.S. dog handler killed since the Vietnam War. The Marine Corps Logistics Base, Barstow, named the base’s kennel the “Adam L. Cann K-9 Facility” in Sgt. Cann’s honor

This is the first of several memorials that I will be placing on the Blog. I’ve personally always had trouble writing about our Handlers and Dogs who have died because I feel it can be very intrusive on the families and we certainly want to show them respect. Fortunately for me, Dennis Herrick, the editor of DOGMAN, with whom I have have shared some of my articles, did me the courtesy of sharing a gracious and respectful set of memorials with me. They will be posted on the Blog one at a time. With each posting, I hope you will remember the team, the handler’s family and friends who still mourn and the military family left to mourn a loss of their own.

With deep respect,
Dixie

Memorial

War Dog Hero

Here’s a photo of SSD Bubba, a Lab, and his handler having some fun during training. Why is it important for a dog to run pell-mell after a ball? Suppose Bubba just found an IED and you want him out of the dangerous area as quickly as possible. Send him out of the area after his ball.

One of Bubba’s compatriots – Labwise, not American-wise – just won a Hero Dog Award. And, we wanted to share this story with you. Thanks to our ever investigative website guru for this link. Follow the link to the story.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100224/D9E2K4T02.html