A Marine veteran has adopted a military service dog that saved his life on countless occasions when the pair were working together on combat missions in Afghanistan.
Blue is a Labrador retriever who participated in over 300 combat missions in Afghanistan and saved her human companions on countless occasions by sniffing out explosive devices.
Throughout the years of her service, Blue has got close to her handler, Byung Kang, who vowed to adopt her once her job would be finished.
As the 31-year-old Marine told TODAY, Blue saved his life on the very first mission they embarked on together by detecting an explosive device that “could have taken a couple of our guys out.”
“So from there, Blue started getting trust and the respect of my platoon,” Kang told TODAY.
According to the Marine, he learned how to read Blue’s body language and bonded with her through playtime when the two weren’t working.
“Since we knew Blue is effective, it was almost impossible for a squad or a platoon to go out without Blue,” Kang said in an interview with TODAY.
“Sometimes we went on three patrols per day and by the time we’d get back we’re all exhausted because we’ve been walking miles and miles in over a hundred degrees of heat in Afghanistan. So we did our best. Every chance, we tried to go out to possibly save the Marines and sailors.”
After spending more than a year on the tour in Afghanistan, Kang and Blue were separated whereas Blue was reassigned and sent far away from her handler.
As the years passed, Kang never forgot about his vow to adopt Blue following her service and seven years later he finally got the chance he’d been waiting for.
In 2018, Kang and his wife tracked down Blue and used their connections to officially adopt her and provide her with a loving home.
“I did everything in my power to make sure that we could get Blue home. After all the stories I’ve heard, I know for sure Blue is one of the reasons why BK is standing here with me and he’s alive,” Wendy Kang, who is also a retired Marine, told TODAY.
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Replaced!