Injured Air Force airman adopts her canine comrade

Air Force officials supported the adoption.
Washington Post
An Air Force bomb-dog handler who was severely injured in Iraq adopted her closest comrade in war -- an 80-pound German shepherd named Rex -- in a small ceremony Friday at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.
The much-awaited moment for Tech. Sgt. Jamie Dana, 27, came 61/2 months after the airman was nearly killed when a roadside bomb exploded beneath the humvee in which she and Rex were riding. Rex survived the blast with minor injuries.
Dana was critically injured -- with collapsed lungs, a broken pelvis, a fractured spine -- and in her last moment of consciousness that day pleaded to know the fate of her dog. "Where's Rex?" she asked, grabbing a medic's arm.
Weeks later, as Dana slowly recovered from her wounds at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, she began asking about adopting the animal. At first, the Air Force said no. Rex was 5 years old, not nearly the retirement age of 10 to 14.
Change of heart
This fall, there was a change of heart. Air Force officials said they supported the adoption and worked with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to push through a measure that would allow special exceptions to working-dog adoption rules.
The measure became part of a defense bill signed Dec. 30 by President Bush.
On Friday, Dana was handed Rex's leash and an adoption certificate in a ceremony attended by her Air Force husband, her friends, her commanding officers and other Air Force personnel. Rex lay quietly near his handler through most of the speeches.