FREDDY

Freddy was born on February 17, 2007, and served with the FBI from September 8, 2008 'til October 28, 2009.  On that day, the FBI raided a warehouse being used as a mosque in Dearborn, Michigan, looking for several of its members, who were wanted on suspicion of a number of crimes.  The Imam, who had a criminal record and refused to surrender, shot the FBI dog, Freddy, before the Imam himself was fatally shot by agents.  Freddy was helicoptered to a veterinarian hospital in Detroit and although the doctors did everything they could to save his live, the wounds were fatal

At his memorial service in Virginia, local police motorcycle officers escorted Freddy's flag-draped casket to the FBI academy, where the FBI Chaplain gave a moving invocation and where K-9 Police Officers and their dogs stood at attention behind a large crowd, which also included the veterinarians who tried to save his life.  Other speakers followed and it was said that Freddy not only fit in with his team, but also saw the humans as his pack!  Freddy's handler and his wife were presented with the FBI Memorial Star - the first K-9 in FBI history to be so honored - and is presented to a surviving relative when death has occurred as the direct result of an adversarial action in the line of duty.  The brass plaque added to the portrait I painted of Freddy reads:

FREDDY
February 17, 2007 - October 28, 2009

Then I heard the voice of the Lord
saying, "Whom shall I send?  And
who will go for us?"  And I said,
"Here am I.  Send me!"
Isaiah 6:8

---