The first military working dog to be adopted by his handler’s family, 8-year-old Lex was allowed to retire early so he could join the family of Cpl. Dustin Lee, who perished during a March 21 explosion in Iraq’s Anbar Province.
His adoption honors the fallen Marine and the family he left behind, said Col. Christian Haliday, the commanding officer of MCLB-Albany who signed Lex’s papers.
“The family deserves our fullest respect and admiration for sending their son into military service,” Haliday said.
Lex ends his working life to join Dustin Lee’s parents and his two younger siblings in their dog-friendly Quitman, Miss., home.
“Dustin loved his dogs,” said Jerome Lee, Dustin’s father. “He spent as much time as he could to try to train the dogs as best he could.”
His 20-year-old son also loved the Marine Corps but knew the risks of service, Jerome Lee said.
“Dustin was proud to do that,” he said.
Rachel Lee said her son practically lived at the MCLB kennels, where the family first met Lex while visiting Dustin in Albany.
The Lees have several dogs, including Doenja, a retired Belgian Malinois who was Dustin’s first partner.
“We are a huge dog family,” she said.
Lex visited with numerous guests, even young children, after the adoption ceremony, then chewed up a toy.
“An extra special dog is what he is,” with “an extra-loving personality,” Rachel Lee said.
The family spent a summer week with Dustin’s staff sergeant, a dog handler in Quantico, Va., and learned more about life with working dogs, said his sister, Madyson, 15.
Search dogs are trained to be aggressive on command, she said.
“When (Lex) is ordered to be aggressive, he will, but when he’s around us he’s a teddy bear,” she said.
All the attention being paid to the adoption is unusual for the family but not excessive, she said.
“We’re from a small town in Mississippi, so it’s new for us,” Lee said. “I think Lex and Dustin deserve it for what they’ve done.”
Capt. Mike Reynolds of MCLB’s police force must say goodbye to the dog he has handled since Lex’s return from Camp Lejeune, where he was treated for injuries from the explosion that killed Dustin Lee.
Reynolds’ family has adopted a working dog, Justice, after his retirement from the Albany-Dougherty Drug Unit.
Justice easily adapted to retirement life, but occasionally, when searching for a “treat,” he resembles the drug-hunting Belgian of his working life, said Reynolds’ wife, Burnice.
Congressman Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, was unable to attend the Friday ceremony.
“Animals can do wondrous good in a time of mourning,” Bishop said in a statemnt. “I am so pleased the Lee family will be able to adopt Lex.”
The adoption of a working dog by a handler’s family is a first for the U.S. military, but the Lees pushed for months to adopt Lex, securing on Nov. 13 the backing of North Carolina Congressman Walter Jones, whose Senate District includes Camp Lejeune.
“Lex certainly had 2-3 more years to serve,” Jones said at the ceremony.
“For the Lee family, their pain that will never be resolved ... the love will never go away. Four days before Christmas, thank you Marine Corps, thank you Col. Haliday, thank you.”
The Lees and Lex will depart MCLB-Albany at 8 a.m. with special escorts provided by the Patriot Guard Riders and Dougherty County Police.
SUSAN MCCORD susan.mccord@.at.albanyherald.com
