A military working dog named Cpl. Tick was killed on May 14, 2012 in an improvised explosive device blast in Afghanistan. Cpl Tick's handler, Lance Cpl. Bryan Utrilla, will honor her on the one-year anniversary of her death by placing her dog tags on the Camp Pendleton cross memorial.
Utrilla wrote an email to the blog Battle Rattle, calling Cpl. Tick, a two-year-old black lab, a beloved friend who loved to snuggle:
“Best memories of her would be at night, she would dive into my bivvie sack headfirst and somehow end up by my face. If she didn’t have her nose by my face she would fight till she got there, then she would sleep.”
But Cpl. Tick wasn't in Afghanistan to cuddle. Utrilla and Tick - attached to Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines - had a job to do. Using Tick's powerful nose, they would go on patrol, looking for hidden improvised explosive devices.
It was on one of those patrols that Cpl. Tick lost her life.
To honor her, Utrilla and friends will place her dog tags on the cross after a memorial run up First Sergeant's Hill.
