It was obvious that time had caught up with Rico the combat dog after a life of military service and friendship to the Beckley family. At twelve-years-old, having served two tours in Afghanistan, assisting in two hundred and forty missions, and nearly thirty firefights, most of which alongside his handler and friend Russ Beckley Jr., it was time for the Beckley’s to say good bye to their friend and hero. Russ Beckley Jr. and his father gave Rico a sending off fit for an American hero. For the ceremony, Russ Jr and his dad dressed in their Marine blues. They lowered the American flag to half-staff and when it was time to carry Rico out they draped it over his coffin.
“I can just imagine one day, seeing my great grandfather, my grandfather, my father and my mother, standing there with Rico. And we will all be together again,” Russ Jr. told News 8.