FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WORKING DOG & FALLEN K9 HANDLER TRIBUTESaturday, February 16, 2008, 1 p.m.Air Armament Museum, Eglin Air Force Base, Ft. Walton Beach, FloridaBACKGROUND: Corporal Dustin Jerome Lee, 20 year old U.S. Marine Corps Military Working Dog Handler was killed in action in Iraq on March 21 2007. Dustin?s German Shepherd Bomb-sniffing Dog, Lex, was seriously wounded and survived. Corporal Lee was buried with full military honors in his hometown at Stonewall Cemetery, Mississippi. Lex attended Dustin?s funeral.On December 21, Lex was united with the Lee family in a nationally televised military retirement ceremony. It is the first time in the history of the U.S. Marine Corps that a military working dog was granted early retirement and given to the family of a fallen Marine. TRIBUTE: Since WWII, U.S. Military Working Dogs and their Handlers have bravely served our country saving American lives on foreign fields of battle and protecting us here at home. Many have been wounded and many have courageously sacrificed their lives. AWARD CEREMONY: A Commemorative Purple heart will be awarded to Lex, U.S. Marine Corps, German Shepherd Bomb-Sniffing for wounds sustained in battle by the members of The Military Order of the Purple Heart, Chapter 566. SPECIAL GUESTS AND SPEAKERS: The Lee family, John Burnam, Vietnam Veteran War Dog Handler & author of ?Dog Tags of Courage,? William Everett, Commander of The Military Order of the Purple Heart, Chapter 566, and The Patriot Guard Riders.
DOG DEMONSTRATION: U.S. Armed Services and Civilian Police will demonstrate patrol and detection capabilities of working dogs. WAR DOG MONUMENT: A bronze casting of a German shepherd by internationally acclaimed monument sculptress Susan Bahary will be on display. Once the fund-raising is complete, the monument, called Faithful Partner ? Guardian of the Night, will be dedicated and installed on a granite base at the Air Armament Museum. A concrete wall behind the sculpture will be inset with a stained-glass American flag whose image will shine on Faithful Partner in the sunlight. Bahary, sculptress of the first U.S. war dog monument, Always Faithful, unveiled at the Pentagon and installed at the U.S. Marine War Dog Cemetery on Guam, created the original Faithful Partner in 2002 for the University of California?s veterinary school at Davis, Sacramento, California. The dedication and installation of Faithful Partner was keynoted by then-California Attorney General Bill Lockyer.
CONTACT: Kelly Hooker - MWD Memorial Coordinator at 850-401 1265 or donations@militaryworkingdogmemorial.com www.militaryworkingdogmemorial.com
WORKING DOG & FALLEN K9 HANDLER TRIBUTESaturday, February 16, 2008, 1 p.m.Air Armament Museum, Eglin Air Force Base, Ft. Walton Beach, FloridaBACKGROUND: Corporal Dustin Jerome Lee, 20 year old U.S. Marine Corps Military Working Dog Handler was killed in action in Iraq on March 21 2007. Dustin?s German Shepherd Bomb-sniffing Dog, Lex, was seriously wounded and survived. Corporal Lee was buried with full military honors in his hometown at Stonewall Cemetery, Mississippi. Lex attended Dustin?s funeral.On December 21, Lex was united with the Lee family in a nationally televised military retirement ceremony. It is the first time in the history of the U.S. Marine Corps that a military working dog was granted early retirement and given to the family of a fallen Marine. TRIBUTE: Since WWII, U.S. Military Working Dogs and their Handlers have bravely served our country saving American lives on foreign fields of battle and protecting us here at home. Many have been wounded and many have courageously sacrificed their lives. AWARD CEREMONY: A Commemorative Purple heart will be awarded to Lex, U.S. Marine Corps, German Shepherd Bomb-Sniffing for wounds sustained in battle by the members of The Military Order of the Purple Heart, Chapter 566. SPECIAL GUESTS AND SPEAKERS: The Lee family, John Burnam, Vietnam Veteran War Dog Handler & author of ?Dog Tags of Courage,? William Everett, Commander of The Military Order of the Purple Heart, Chapter 566, and The Patriot Guard Riders.
DOG DEMONSTRATION: U.S. Armed Services and Civilian Police will demonstrate patrol and detection capabilities of working dogs. WAR DOG MONUMENT: A bronze casting of a German shepherd by internationally acclaimed monument sculptress Susan Bahary will be on display. Once the fund-raising is complete, the monument, called Faithful Partner ? Guardian of the Night, will be dedicated and installed on a granite base at the Air Armament Museum. A concrete wall behind the sculpture will be inset with a stained-glass American flag whose image will shine on Faithful Partner in the sunlight. Bahary, sculptress of the first U.S. war dog monument, Always Faithful, unveiled at the Pentagon and installed at the U.S. Marine War Dog Cemetery on Guam, created the original Faithful Partner in 2002 for the University of California?s veterinary school at Davis, Sacramento, California. The dedication and installation of Faithful Partner was keynoted by then-California Attorney General Bill Lockyer.
CONTACT: Kelly Hooker - MWD Memorial Coordinator at 850-401 1265 or donations@militaryworkingdogmemorial.com www.militaryworkingdogmemorial.com