By Damien Lewis, Mike Dowling
"In Iraq we positioned our lives in each one other's palms (and paws) day by day. We took care of one another it doesn't matter what. Rex and i've a bond that would final for the remainder of our born days. If ever there has been a marine who lived as much as Semper Fidelis, the motto of the Marine Corps, it's Rex."
Deployed to Iraq's notorious Triangle of demise in 2004, Sergeant Mike Dowling and his army operating puppy Rex have been a part of the 1st Marine Corps army K9 groups despatched to front strains of wrestle given that Vietnam. It was once Rex's task to smell out guns caches, suicide bombers, and IEDs, the devastating explosives that wreaked havoc on troops and civilians alike. It was once Mike's activity to steer Rex into the guts of probability time and time back, regularly trusting Rex to convey them either again alive.
Dowling had grew to become twenty-five and Rex 3 simply when they arrived in Iraq. Neither of them had any inspiration what to anticipate, and no education may well totally arrange them for this activity. An animal lover due to the fact adolescence, Dowling had fostered and proficient canines for advisor canine for the Blind, and he was resolute to serve within the military's K9 unit after becoming a member of the Marines. On their first patrols in Iraq, Rex suffered a likely incurable worry of explosions and gunfire, yet with Mike on the different finish of his leash, Rex received the braveness to accomplish his duty.
Filled with harrowing stories of knife-edge bomb-detection paintings, together with a unprecedented baptism by way of hearth, Sergeant Rex is a heart-pounding account of the way an unbreakable human-canine bond helped Mike and Rex to stick taken with their venture and keep numerous lives. Dowling takes us into the searing 130-degree warmth, the choking dirt, and the ubiquitous hazard of violent assault that looked as if it would permeate Iraq's streets. We event Dowling's visceral worry of strolling down an IED-laden alley the place dismemberment or demise can include any footstep, merely his depended on associate, Rex, through his side.
Loyalty is without doubt one of the hallmarks of any solid Marine, and nowhere is that caliber extra obvious than during this miraculous account of Mike Dowling and Rex's wartime stories. A relocating tale of the way a guy and a puppy constructed entire belief in one another within the face of bad adversity, Sergeant Rex is an unforgettable story of sacrifice, braveness, and love.
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Additional resources for Sergeant Rex: The Unbreakable Bond Between a Marine and His Military Working Dog
Sample text
For a time there was a gap five miles broad in the front of the position of the Allies, and there were many hours during which there was no substantial force between the Germans and Ypres. They wasted their time, however, in consolidating their ground, and the chance of a great coup passed for ever. They had sold their souls as soldiers, but the Devil's price was a poor one. Had they had a corps of cavalry ready, and pushed them through the gap, it would have been the most dangerous moment of the war.
This work, begun by Lieutenant Burnyeat and a hundred miners of the Monmouth battalions, was very difficult owing to the wet soil. It was charged by Major Norton Griffiths and the 171st Mining Company Royal Engineers. At seven in the evening of Saturday, April 17, the whole was exploded with terrific effect. Before the smoke had cleared away the British infantry had dashed from their trench and the hill was occupied. A handful of dazed Germans were taken prisoners and 150 were buried under the debris.
Colonel Boyle lost his life in this very gallant advance, which may truly be said to have saved the situation, since it engaged the German attention and gave time for reinforcements to arrive. The immediate pressing necessity was to give the French time to re-form, and to make some sort of line between the Canadian left and the French right. As early as half-past two in the morning, while the two Canadian regiments were struggling in the wood of St. Julien, the First Cavalry Division were showing once again the value of a mobile reserve.