Lucca: The Marine Corps Dog Who Never Lost a Man

Lucca spent six years walking point in front of Marine patrols in Iraq and Afghanistan, searching every step of ground before the men behind her took it. She worked more than 400 missions. Then, on her last one, a bomb took her leg instead of a Marine's life.

The Dog Who Walked First

Lucca K458 was a German Shepherd and Belgian Malinois mix trained by the Marine Corps as an IED-detection dog. Her job was simple to describe and brutal to do: walk ahead of a patrol, off leash, and find buried bombs before a human found them the hard way.

She deployed twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan between 2006 and 2012, working through more than 400 separate missions. According to news coverage of her service, no Marine on a patrol she led was ever killed or wounded by a device she was searching for.

Her first handler was Gunnery Sgt. Chris Willingham, who worked with her early in her career before she was paired with other Marines, including Cpl. Juan Rodriguez, for later deployments.

The Second Bomb

On March 23, 2012, Lucca was searching a compound in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, with Rodriguez. She found a 30-pound IED and kept working, checking the area for a second device.

There was one. It detonated under her, and Rodriguez, certain she had been killed, ran to her anyway. Lucca had survived, but the blast had taken her left front leg.

Ten Days

Rodriguez gave her first aid on the spot. She was airlifted to Germany for treatment, and according to reporting on her recovery, she was walking again within about ten days of the blast.

Lucca officially retired from the Marine Corps later in 2012. She went home not with Rodriguez, who had been her handler in Afghanistan, but with Willingham, the Marine who had first handled her years before. She lived out her retirement with his family in California.

A Medal No Marine Corps Dog Had Won

On April 5, 2016, at Wellington Barracks in London, Lucca became the 67th recipient of the PDSA Dickin Medal, Britain's highest honor for animal bravery in military service. Her citation recognized "tireless service to the military communities of the United States of America and coalition partners from 2006 to 2012."

She was the first dog from the United States Marine Corps to receive it in the medal's more than 70-year history.

Willingham stood beside her at the ceremony, the Marine who had raised her before her first deployment and taken her home after her last one.