He was the department’s first K-9 officer and for several years he and his K-9 partner “Rain” visited many schools and gave demonstrations to the students. He was a dog handler before he made chief and kept on as a dog handler because that is what he loved doing.
Pfc. Colton Wesley Rusk
December 6, 2010 –
Pfc. Colton W. Rusk, 20, of Orange Grove, Texas, died Dec. 6 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. He was fatally shot while searching with his K9 Eli, a black Labrador retriever, along with six other Marines in the attack. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on November 2, 2009 and was serving his first combat deployment where he was serving as a K-9 handler. He was chosen to be sent to South Carolina to American K-9 Interdiction to train for Improvised Explosive Device Detector dog handler. Certified on 6-18-10. It was here that he and Eli became a team. He along with Eli left for Afghanistan on his 20th birthday 9-23-10. His awards include, the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and Afghanistan Campaign Medal. Pfc. Colton Rusk was buried on 12/18/10 at Orange Grove Cemetery in Texas where approximately one thousand mourners paid their respects. In lieu of flowers the family has requested donation be made to the Colton Rusk Memorial, C/O Value Bank Texas, P.O. Box 4956, Corpus Christi, Texas 78469.
