| WHEN A DOG IS MORE
THAN JUST A DOG
STORY ON CNN.COM |  |
When an insurgent rocket attack badly injured Cpl. Dustin Lee while he was on patrol in Iraq, his shrapnel-impaled partner, Lex, picked himself up to lie over Lee - an effort to protect him.
"He knew Dustin was injured," said Lee's mom, Rachel. Lex was his bomb-sniffing dog.
Lee didn't survive his injuries, but Lex did - and became a part of the Lee family when Rachel adopted him.
"When Dustin was killed, one of the first things I asked about was Lex, because of their camaraderie. They depended on each other"
Lex, a German shepherd, served in the Marines as a military working dog.
There are about 2,700 dogs serving worldwide, according to the Defense Department.These "war dogs" are used on patrols, in drug and explosives detection, and on specialized missions, like the Navy SEAL raid that took down Osama bin Laden last year.
The brave dog Lex that stayed by his handler's side until the end is now 11 years old. He is doing well but has PTSD and pieces of shrapnel that cause spinal complications, Rachel Lee said.
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