Emotional Marine is reunited with his k9 partner after spending 3 years apart

All military dogs should be offered to thier former handlers upon retirement.

After serving side-by-side, eventually military dogs will have to retire and sometimes that means leaving their beloved partner behind.

Such is the case of this special K9 Atilla code R7-89, a 9-year old black and tan German Shepherd who worked as a special combat tracker with U.S. Marine Canine Handler Sea Sergeant Jacob Varela for three years.

The pair served at Lackland Airforce base and deployed on many mission. They drank water together, ate together, and sometimes spent months at a time on missions together.

When Sergeant Varela left the Marines, he was forced to leave behind his friend and partner, Atilla. But three years later, all that changed in the Midway International Airport, Chicago in 2019.

With the help of Kristen Maurer from Mission K9 Rescue, Varela was able to adopt Atilla and give him his forever retirement home.

When Varela and Atilla saw each other for the first time, it was apparent that they were overjoyed at seeing each other again. As if no time had passed, the dog and handler ran toward each other with Sergeant Varela crying out to the pup who ran happily into his arms.