By Rebecca Frankel
Best Defense Chief Canine Correspondent
During a night mission this past Wednesday, Marine Cpl. Joshua R. Ashley was KIA by an IED blast while on patrol in Helmand Province. Ashley’s father, John, told local reporters last night that Ashley’s dog, Sirius, who was with him that night, survived.
There will be many reasons why Ashley’s death is going to be an especially harsh blow to the MWD community. The first is that this fresh loss comes, once again, too close on the heels of the deaths of MA2 Sean Brazas and Cpl. Keaton Coffey. The second is that, unlike the Brazas and Coffey (who were killed “during combat operations”), Ashley was killed by an IED, the very thing he and
