Cpl Dustin Jerome Lee
Born: April 7, 2024 in Meridian, Mississippi
Died: March 21, 2024 in Taqqadum, Iraq
Cpl. Dustin J. Lee of Quitman, Mississippi was a 2004 graduate of Quitman High School where he was a member of the chorus from seventh through twelfth grades. Dustin led a Christian life and was always fair and looked for the good in people. He had an ability to see people for who they were and not judge them. The son of Jerome and Rachel Lee was good at everything he did from riding his motorcycle to playing baseball. Coming from a family of servicemen Dustin joined the Marine Corps just after high school and chose to be a K-9 handler. His grandfather had served with the 186th Air National Guard and his father is Mississippi Highway Patrol Trooper Jerome Lee who served in the Army Guard, and another uncle is with the Meridian Police Department. He had planned to follow in his father’s footsteps in law enforcement after leaving the Corps. During his military career he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Armed Forces Service Medal. In December 2007 the family of Dustin adopted his canine partner, Lex, who had been severely wounded in the same attack. It would be years of recovery for Lex who although injured with shrapnel, laid himself over Dustin after the attack. Lex was left unable to walk on his own until Stem cells were injected into Lex’s hips, knees and bloodstream. After a round of therapy, Lex has already starting to walk again. The canine earned a Purple Heart for his injuries. Lex still wears Dustin’s dog tags. Dustin died at age 21 from wounds received while conducting combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq. In March of 2010, the K-9 kennel facility at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Georgia was dedicated in honor of Cpl. Dustin J. Lee.
Marines
314th “G” Battery
4th Platoon
Headquarters Battalion
Marine Corps Logistics
Albany, Georgia
Burial is at Stonewall Cemetery in Stonewall, Mississippi
The Cpl Dustin Jerome Lee by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
