Good morning Weasel Zippers. Update to this story.
A highly unusual memorial and burial, in the small rural farming town of Powell, Wyoming, was held Wednesday to celebrate and lay to rest a soldier.
This soldier loved chasing tennis balls and chewing on them, his reward for a job well done in the war zone. In fact, whenever he discovered anything round and relatively soft, he was giddy. He served two harrowing tours of duty in Iraq with distinction and was promoted to major when he retired from an Army special operations group.
The military had named him K-9 Mike 5 #07-257, but he came to be known as “Major Mike,” or Michael, as his war and peacetime partner, retired Army ranger Matthew Bessler, liked to call him.
After returning from Iraq with Mike in 2010, Bessler adopted the dog, a Belgian Malinois and had him trained for a new job: a service dog that, for the past several years, had instinctively detected and eased the anxiety and depression in his human counterpart.
That was until last month, when Mike was shot to death by a bicyclist who said the dog was attacking him. The bicyclist – who is a veteran himself, honorably discharged from the Army, authorities said – insisted he had no intention of killing Mike, only disabling him so he could ride away.
The dog’s death shattered Bessler’s delicate world, as he and the dog were both recovering from post-traumatic stress, and drew worldwide attention.
Bessler, who wore his full Army dress uniform Wednesday, said that while the whole thing was a “blur,” one highlight came during the 21-gun salute by the Wyoming National Guard. A friend of Bessler’s, also an Army ranger, brought a dog, Gizmo, also a Belgian Malinois. As the first shot was fired, Gizmo barked.