Photo of military dog and Purple Heart go viral
The dog and his handler were both injured by an IED explosion in Afghanistan
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Photo of military dog and Purple Heart go viral
Photo via 89th Military Police Brigade Facebook page
The heartbreaking photo of military dog Rocky and his Purple Heart medal has been making the rounds on social media, for good reason.
Rocky and his handler, Spc. Andrew Brown, were deployed together in October to Afghanistan from Fort Hood, Texas. While searching a compound, an IED detonated, causing shrapnel to injure the pair.
Both Brown and Rocky were awarded Purple Hearts in Kandahar, Afghanistan where they were flown after sustaining their injuries.
The two were separated after leaving the theater, with Brown headed to the U.S., and Rocky, who needed more surgeries, being sent to Germany for medical care.
Despite being awarded the medal himself, Brown gives Rock y the credit for their work in the field.
“He does everything,” Brown told ABC News from Walter Reed hospital in Washington D.C. “I’m just really a guy with a leash. I bring him to the area, and let him do his thing. If he responds, I translate that… let them know my dog got a response right there. I know the way he works; I know his change of behavior.”
Despite the medical injuries to Rocky, Brown is confident he will come out the other side as good as new.
“Dogs are just resilient like that,” he said.
In a Facebook post, the pair’s unit, the 89th Military Police Brigade, asked for the public to remember the men, women and canines serving abroad.
“Please remember them, as well as all our soldiers deployed around the world during the holiday season,” the post read.
https://www.military1.com/military-heroes/article/1566379014-photo-of-military-dog-and-purple-heart-go-viral
