Tech. Sgt. Jamie Dana and Rex, her combat dog. (By Ricky Carioti -- The Washington Post)
Posted on 12/09/2005 8:24:38 AM PST by Born Conservative
WASHINGTON - Severely injured when her Humvee was bombed in Iraq, Air Force Tech Sgt. Jamie Dana woke up in a military hospital and cried out for Rex, her bomb-sniffing dog.
She was told Rex was dead. Later, she found out he was alive.
But her joy soon turned to sadness when she was told she couldn't adopt him.
Now, under a compromise announced Thursday between House-Senate negotiators, it appears Rex, a German shepherd, will join Dana full-time.
He might even make it there by the holidays.
"I don't really know how to put that into words," said Dana, a McKean County native who is still recovering from the bombing last summer that destroyed the Humvee and slightly burned Rex. "It's something you've been dreaming of for months, and now you find out you're allowed - what can you really say? I just feel overwhelmed."
The Air Force initially said it spent $18,000 training Rex, and by statute he needed to work the remaining five years of his useful life before he could be adopted.
The effort to adopt Rex was accelerated by Dana's congressman, Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., who found out about her desire to adopt the dog while visiting her bedside at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.
Dana, who plans to become a veterinarian, had suffered severe internal injuries in the explosion, and continues to suffer from back pain and weakness in her legs.
Peterson said that the military, with prodding, agreed to ask Congress to add language to the annual defense bill that will allow exceptions to the statute that prohibits the adoption of military working dogs before the end of their useful life.
Rep. John Murtha, R-Pa., and Virginia Sen. John Warner, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, also joined the effort. The full Congress will likely vote on the bill next week.
"Jamie literally almost gave her life - as close as you can come to giving your life and living. ... The healing process from going through something like that, I can see so much therapy in having her friend Rex there to heal with her ... so we were all lobbying hard," Peterson said.
Here's one the government and the military got right.
Thanks for posting this. It's heartwarming, and one of those tidbits you won't read anywhere else.
huh? Why does John Murtha have an "R" after his name?
GREAT STORY! thanks for posting this.
A great story!
Because reporters are lazy, and it just sounds like something a Republican would do.
Remember when this was first posted here. I think there are people here who have some influence in issues like this. We might be surprised at who looks in on the "Freepers".
I think some reporters are too stooopid to realize that someone who is a "Rep." is not a republican, but a representative!
Growing up, I had a German Shepherd. Imagine a 100 lb. lap dog who would defend you to the death. Best breed ever.
Notice that Senator John Warner is a Republican, but there is no mention of party affiliation.
Two Republicans + Murtha... and the lazy reporter got it wrong.
No doubt about that.
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