Kristin Rene Gratz

Former Delta Force K9 handler Sergeant Major Jeremy Knabenshue and his Military Working Dog, Weblo. Weblo started his life as a beaten down Belgian Malinois from Holland that flinched at every sudden movement. In Jeremy’s hands, he would become one of the most decorated combat K9s in modern US Special Operations history. Together, the pair deployed seven times to Iraq and Afghanistan alongside America’s Tier 1 operators. On Halloween night 2007, Weblo was shot through the abdomen while clearing a building in Iraq. Jeremy was the only man on target carrying a K9 first aid kit. Under fire, he treated Weblo in the dirt, saved his life, and watched his partner make a full recovery and return to duty. Weblo went on to save countless American lives across multiple deployments, once catching an enemy combatant hiding in wait with an AK-47 at a breach point, something no operator or aircraft above had spotted. Weblo retired in 2012 and lived out his days as a family protector. On March 8, 2016, Jeremy gave him a final helicopter ride over the airfield, the wind in his fur one last time, before letting him go peacefully. Warriors come in all shapes and sizes, and some of them have four legs.