Asteraceae Ⓥ

On March 23, 2012, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, a U.S. Marine Corps dog named Lucca found a hidden bomb and kept searching for more. The next one went off underneath her. Her handler, Cpl. Juan Rodriguez, saw it happen. "I saw a cloud of dust, and there was an explosion." There could have been more bombs in that ground. He ran to her anyway. "I ran in, put a tourniquet on to stop the bleeding." "I picked her up and we ran to a nearby tree line to get some cover." Lucca lost her left front leg. She had burns on her chest, neck and head. By then she had served about six years and more than 400 missions: two tours in Iraq, one in Afghanistan. She was a specialized search dog, trained to work off leash, out in front of the patrol, alone, exactly where the danger was. The British animal charity that later decorated her said that on the patrols she led, there were no human casualties. Rodriguez stayed with her through surgery and recovery. "I was always with her, never left her side." About ten days later, she was walking again. On three legs. That summer she retired from the Marine Corps and went home to live with her first handler, Chris Willingham, who had partnered with her since 2006 and taken her through Iraq twice. "She is the only reason I made it home to my family," Willingham said. In 2016, in London, Lucca received the PDSA Dickin Medal, often called the animal Victoria Cross. She was the first U.S. Marine Corps dog ever to receive it. She died in January 2018, almost 14 years old. Her ashes were later buried with military honors at a war dog memorial in Michigan. "She's a legend of a dog to me," Rodriguez said. Tomorrow is Veterans Day. She walked in front so the troops behind her would not have to. She came home on three legs. A lot of Marines and soldiers came home on two because of her.