James Altman delivers a speech about the unbreakable bond between dogs and their handlers following an award ceremony for Patti, a retired military working dog, Oct. 24 on Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, Japan. Patti and Altman served together during Operation Iraqi Freedom while Altman served as military working dog handler. Patti was injured in the line of duty while serving as a combat tracking dog. “The bond between a handler and his military working dog is indescribable,” said Altman. “When she was injured, she suffered spinal embolism which paralyzed her completely. I fed her, I chewed her food and passed water to her … they said she should have died, but she didn’t. She wanted to stay with me. It took about six months of rehabilitation, but we worked together so she could walk again and when she was recertified as a tracking dog, I put in her retirement papers and here she is today.” Altman is the installation chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear defense officer on Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, and is a Sebring, Florida, native.