Dedicated to millions of men and women in armed forces around the world, and dogs who serve along them.
Please be safe and come home. We are all waiting for your return
Meet Eli.
Eli is a black labrador who served in the military as a bomb sniffing dog.
His trainer, Colton Rusk, was a 20 year old marine from Texas. Colton was Eli’s handler, and they were supposed to find weapons, bombs, etc. together as a team.
But they weren’t just a team. More than that, Eli was Colton’s dog and best friend.
In fact, Eli was what Colton thought about all the time. His mother Kathy said:
“Every time he called home, it was always about Eli. It gave me some comfort knowing that Colton wasn’t alone over there.”
Then the tragedy occurred.
A sniper in Afghanistan shot Colton. Eli was so loyal that Eli crawled on top of Colton to protect him after he was shot. In fact, Eli “snapped” at the other Marines who came to help Colton because of Eli’s protective instincts.
Unfortunately, the shot was fatal and Colton died on the spot.
But luckily for Eli, who was not harmed during the incident, was discharged from his duties and was adopted by Colton’s family.
Here’s a video of Eli’s “hand-off” ceremony.
(Note: It’s a bit of a tear-jerker.)
Such a sad story, but with an ending that even Colton would approve of.
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