Author Events, continued Meet the Author: Sergeant Mike Dowling on Sergeant Rex: The Unbreakable Bond Between a Marine and His Military Working Dog
Mike C. Dowling enlisted in the Marine Corps and became a military working dog handler, taking his German Shepherd into combat in Iraq. Sergeant Dowling and Rex were part of the first Marine Corps military K9 teams sent to the front lines of combat since Vietnam. It was Rex’s job to sniff out weapons caches, sui- cide bombers, and IEDs, the devastating explo- sives that wreaked havoc on troops and civilians alike. It was Mike’s job to lead Rex into the heart of danger time and time again, always trusting Rex to bring them both back alive.
Mike Dowling wrote a
book about Rex and came to Marines’ Memorial on 6 February 2012 to read from his book.
He described how he and Rex developed complete trust in each other in the face of terrible adversity. He told about a rela- tionship that was characterized by sacrifice, courage and love. Rex deployed to Iraq once with Sgt Dowling and two more times with other handlers. Rex is now at Camp Pendleton, and won’t deploy anymore. Mike Dowling has initiated a campaign to have Rex treated by the Marine Corps as more than just a piece of equipment. He wants Rex to have an identity; a service record with entries about Rex’s service to his country. He talked about how the military working dogs were treated in Vietnam (i.e., aban- doned and left in Vietnam), rather than treated humanely in their retirement. He is working to have one of the other han- dlers who took Rex back to Iraq be able to adopt the dog. This is an administrative nightmare, according to Sgt Dowling. (We are going to see if we can help make this happen.)
16 Crossroads Spring 2012
Following Mike Dowling’s presentation, our moderator, Board Director Barrie Graham, brought to the stage a pre- senter for Canine Companions for Independence to tell how dogs are trained to be companions to our wounded Veterans. It was an amazing program.
Top: Dave Bonfilio, National Planned Giving Officer, and Paul Mundell, National Director of Canine Programs for Canine Companions for Independence (CCI)
Above: CCI Instructor Erin Powers demonstrates a typical task performed by Canine Companions service dogs.
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