DETROIT, Mich. (June 5, 2014) — It will be a touching reunion of two U.S. military veterans who served their country, when a West Michigan Marine Corps veteran adopts his combat service dog.
Lance Corporal Jeff DeYoung of Jenison will be reunited with his Contract Working Dog, Cena, on Thursday morning in Detroit. DeYoung served from 2009 to 2013 and was deployed to Afghanistan. While there, he served with Cena, a black Labrador who helped sniff out explosives as an Improvised Detection Dog.
The two had actually met while training in Virginia back in July of 2009, and were deployed to Afghanistan in October of that same year.
Cena is retiring from military service, and is looking for a forever home. Now after four long years of being apart, Lance Corporal DeYoung is adopting Cena so the two will never have to be separated again. Cena is being flown in to Detroit on Thursday morning, where DeYoung will pick him up.
The reunion is made possible by the American Humane Association and Mission K9 Rescue. The groups are working together to bring military war dogs back to the U.S. and reconnect them with their former handlers.
