In Memory of MWD Ronny

Ronny's handler, Tim, wrote the words below:

He was an absolute hero. He deserves every bit of recognition that he gets. I spent a long time teamed up with him and we spent 2 long deployments with him. He had the best personality of almost any MWD that I knew. He could be playing around in a room full of the other handlers and then within seconds be right back in MWD mode. In August while deployed, we were working one night and I noticed that he all of a sudden got sick. I kept an eye on him for a while but and he acted like he was experiencing heat stress but the symptoms were not there. At that base we did not have a vet so I had to rush him downtown to a civilian vet. He quickly diagnosed Ronny and told me that he had around 4 hours to live and that there was an emergency procedure that needed to be done to save his life. I told him to do anything necessary. After that recovery Ronny and I were flown to Germany for further treatment and where a human cardiologist conducted open heart surgery to remove a tumor. This was a major deal because there had not been an open heart surgery at that military hospital since the 50's....much less on a dog. Then after that recovery we were flown back to the states were everything seemed to be ok. On September 15th Ronny started to show the same symptoms and turns out his tumor was cancerous. There was nothing else to be done. He was suffering at that point. I laid on the floor at our kennels with him for hours. Ronny passed away on September 16 2004. I had him cremated and I purchased a very nice urn for him. He is here at my house with me now and forever in my hearth. I sure do miss him so much.