I've been so lazy and lax in blogging, and I don't know why. There's so much crap going on in the world, that I think I need(ed) a break. Anyway, I'm sure you've already seen this story, but it's one that I just have to post. It makes my little teeny-tiny problems seem so petty and totally unimportant.
Major Kleenex warning!
From the UK's
Mail Online:
- Petty Officer Jon Tumilson killed in Afghanistan crash
- Navy SEAL was one of 38 shot down in helicopter
- Labrador retriever Hawkeye was at emotional service
By Mark Duell
This heart-wrenching photo shows how a Navy SEAL’s dog refused to leave his master’s side during an emotional funeral.
Petty Officer Jon Tumilson, 35, killed in the major U.S. helicopter crash in Afghanistan this month, was remembered by around 1,500 mourners.
But it was his Labrador retriever Hawkeye that really captured the public’s emotions in the photo taken by Mr Tumilson’s cousin, Lisa Pembleton.
Mr Tumilson, of San Diego, California, was one of 38 killed on August 6 when a rocket-propelled grenade took out a U.S. Chinook helicopter.
His funeral was held on Friday in his hometown of Rockford, Iowa, at the Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock Community School.
Ms Pembleton said: ‘I felt compelled to take one photo to share with family members that couldn't make it or couldn't see what I could from the aisle.
'To say that he was an amazing man doesn't do him justice. The loss of Jon to his family, military family and friends is immeasurable.'
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO HAWKEYE?
Nikki Virgilio, a friend of Mr Tumilson (known as J.T.) who was at the funeral, said Hawkeye was a personal pet rather than a military dog.
'I can happily report to you that Hawkeye was willed to one of J.T.'s good friends, the same one that took care of him whenever J.T. was deployed overseas,' she wrote on Facebook.
This close friend was revealed by the Des Moines Register to be Scott Nichols.
Hawkeye's new owner was revealed by the Des Moines Register to be Mr Tumilson's close friend Scott Nichols, who said at the funeral that the fallen SEAL was more scared of his parents dying than being killed himself.
During the service, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Robert Bradshaw told Mr Tumilson's parents that they helped raise an ‘outstanding man - a hero’.
Family, friends and servicemen, along with Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and U.S. Senator Charles Grassley, packed the school's gymnasium.
Mr Tumilson, who joined the Navy in 1995, was known to friends as J.T.
‘J.T. was going to be a Navy SEAL come hell or high water,’ friend Scott Nichols said. ‘He wasn't afraid of dying.’
‘If J.T. had known he was going to be shot down when going to the aid of others, he would have went anyway,’ friend and soldier Boe Nankivel said.
Mr Tumilson's sister, Kristie Pohlman, said he always dreamed of joining the military's elite special forces unit.
‘Your dreams were big and seemed impossible to nearly everyone on the outside,’ she said. ‘I always knew you'd somehow do what you wanted.’
Family members followed Hawkeye into the service. Mr Tumilson is survived by two sisters and his parents, George and Kathleen.
- A fund was set up in the SEAL's honour. Donations can be sent to 'Frogman 238 Memorial Fund' at: First Security Bank and Trust, 201 West Main Ave, Rockford, Iowa, 50468
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