Marine Cpl. Dustin Jerome Lee, 20, a Marine K9 handler, was killed on March 21, 2007 while conducting combat operations in Fallujah, Iraq, just six weeks before he was expected to return home. Dustin Lee died of injuries suffered in a mortor attack when shrapnel hit him in the chest and was medi-vaced out to an area hospital where he died a short time later. Lee was assigned to Headquarters Battalion, Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, GA. before deploying for Iraq. His dog Lex received injuries but non life-threatening. K9 “Lex” was sent back to the U.S. to attended his handlers funeral on March 31, 2007. Dusty’s family is in the process of adopting Lex.
The Lee family lobbied the military for months to allow it to adopt Lex. K9 Lex who was wounded in an explosion that killed his Marine handler was released from duty so it could be adopted by the slain Marine’s family on December 21, 2007 exactly nine months after Lee was killed. The adoption of the 8-year-old German shepherd, Lex, by the family of fallen Marine Cpl. Dustin Jerome Lee marks the first time the U.S. military has granted early retirement to a working dog so it could live with a former handler’s family. Though some shrapnel remains lodged in his back, Lex has otherwise recovered from his wounds and had been serving alongside military policemen at the Albany base since July. Canine
