# Dog Mourns Death Of Navy SEAL



## MJS (Aug 25, 2011)

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/man-best-friend-mourns-death-175219915.html



> Jon Tumilson, a Navy SEAL, was one of 30 Americans killed in Afghanistan on Aug. 6 when a rocket-propelled grenade took out a U.S. Chinook helicopter. He was mourned at a service in Rockford, Iowa, attended by 1,500 family members,  friends--and Hawkeye, Tumilson's dog. The Labrador retriever was such an important part of Tumilson's life that the friends and family of the San Diego resident called the dog his "son."
> When Tumilson's friend Scott Nichols walked to the front of the room to speak, Hawkeye followed, Today.com reports. "As Nichols prepared to memorialize his friend, Hawkeye dutifully laid down near the casket," Scott Stump writes.
> A video clip of the mourning dog can be seen here. KIMT-TV of Mason City, Iowa, covered the funeral.
> The photo on the right was taken by Tumilson's cousin, Lisa Pembleton, and posted on Facebook. Pembleton wrote on her Facebook page, "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."



Yes, this brought a tear to my eye.


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## ETinCYQX (Aug 25, 2011)

I just lost my black Lab of 13 years and this broke my heart.  A dog really is a special companion.


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## Buka (Aug 25, 2011)

JFC. You just reduced me to tears. My Bandit is 14. It's only a matter of time. 
And a group of our brave servicemen were lost. That video just broke my heart.


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## MA-Caver (Aug 25, 2011)

Indeed there are many such examples. A dog is a very special animal indeed.


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## John Brewer (Aug 26, 2011)

Wow, incredible what great friends dogs can be. I lost my black lab shepard mix last year, 16 years old.


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## elder999 (Aug 26, 2011)

As someone who only came to having a relationship with their own dog relatively late in life (21), but has been considered a keen observer of nature by others, I can only respond to the animal we created the same way that I do to storms, wildfires, and other forces of nature:

_Yeah,*dogs do that*_.

with tears, of course....


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## Archangel M (Aug 26, 2011)

Saw a show about dogs once. Some scientists are saying that we (humans+dogs) have actually influenced each others evolution. Dogs are the only creature other than us that understands the concept of "pointing" (point at an object and a dog will go to it). Dogs were a component of our "civilization" (hearding, protection of property). There is no other human/animal relationship that even comes close. If we ever do go to another planet any guesses on what the first animal to come with us will be?


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## Steve (Aug 26, 2011)

I know my dogs don't know that they're dogs.  They're just hairy little people who eat the same thing for dinner every day. 

This is a particularly touching photo.  Thanks for sharing.


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