Lucca

In 2012, Lucca was a US Marine Corps dog sniffing for bombs in Afghanistan. She had gone on over 400 missions successfully and saved countless lives. On her last mission, she got too close to a homemade bomb and the explosion blew off one of her legs.

Corporal Juan Rodriguez was with Lucca while it happened. Rodriguez quickly made a tourniquet for Lucca’s wound and carried her to safety. Taking responsibility for the dog during her recovery, Rodriguez even slept with Lucca to make sure that she was never left alone. Her owner, Sergeant Chris Willingham, made a statement that without Lucca, he would have never made it back home to see his family again.

Since then, Lucca has fully recovered. When she retired from service, she was awarded the Dickin Medal, which has only been given to 66 military dogs since the award was created in World War II.