COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A local Marine is back together with the bomb-sniffing dog he says saved his life in Afghanistan.
In 2011, Mark Slocum worked with Tug the bomb-sniffing dog in Afghanistan.
The dog sniffed out explosives to protect the platoon of Marines Slocum was assigned.
Slocum says he did his best to guard the dog, but was eventually moved to other assignments.
"When we were in firefights, I had to make sure I had a hold of him. That way he doesn't go out in the middle of the battlefield and get shot," Slocum said.
Slocum got his dog back when he was notified through a military contractor that it was time for Tug to retire.
The reunion in North Carolina Wednesday matched up war teams.
Dog training company K-2 Solutions is making sure the dogs that served their country overseas have a warm forever home.
“To have Tug and Mark together again, it's like a piece of the puzzle is whole again,” his wife, Shannon Slocum, said.
She calls welcoming Tug into their military family “a dream.”
“Mark's a sergeant so Tug is retired as Staff Sgt Tug,” she said.