Mike Dowling: Sergeant Rex

Sergeant Mike Dowling and his military working dog Rex were one of the first Marine Corps military K9 teams sent to the front lines of combat since Vietnam. 

Deployed to Iraq in 2004, there was nothing that could have fully prepared either for what they would face in the infamous Triangle of Death. Sergeant Rex is the story of a human-canine relationship forged in combat. Through first-hand accounts of dangerous patrols in Iraq, Dowling artfully describes the role working dogs play in today's military. 

Mike Dowling enlisted in the US Marine Corps in 2001 and graduated top in his class at MP school before entering the military working dog handler's course. He deployed to Iraq in March 2004 and was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for his and Rex's Iraq operations. Dowling currently lives in Los Angeles, where he serves on the advisory boards of two wounded-warrior nonprofit organizations.

This program was sponsored by Fifth Third Bank with support from State of Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka.