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The dog of fallen Navy SEAL Officer Jon Tumilson refused to leave his owner's casket at the officer's funeral earlier this week, Animal Planet reported.
Tumilson's cousin Lisa Pembleton captured the loyal pup, Hawkeye, resting alongside Tumilson's casket at the Rockford, Iowa ceremony.
KPBS reported that the former San Diego resident was killed in the Aug. 6th Chinook helicopter crash with 29 other American service members.
Pembleton contacted KPBS's Home Post publication with this statement: "Hawkeye is/was his loyal "son". 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. I hadn't planned on taking any pictures other than with family. However, from my seat at the funeral, I felt compelled to take one photo to share with family members that couldn't make it or couldn't see what I could from the aisle. This is that photo."
Tumilson's cousin Lisa Pembleton captured the loyal pup, Hawkeye, resting alongside Tumilson's casket at the Rockford, Iowa ceremony.
KPBS reported that the former San Diego resident was killed in the Aug. 6th Chinook helicopter crash with 29 other American service members.
Pembleton contacted KPBS's Home Post publication with this statement: "Hawkeye is/was his loyal "son". 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. I hadn't planned on taking any pictures other than with family. However, from my seat at the funeral, I felt compelled to take one photo to share with family members that couldn't make it or couldn't see what I could from the aisle. This is that photo."
A man's best friend shows emotion to the presence of his master at his funeral service. music by Harold Britton titled "canon" composed by Johann Pachelbel,( very short video looped for emphasis).
During the funeral service of Navy Seal hero Jon Tumilson, his loyal dog Hawkeye lays down with a sigh near his casket.
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".