After several months of rough going, Iraq war veteran and Hazel
Hurst native Jamie Himes Dana appears to have found the backing she
needs to keep her partner, bomb-sniffing dog Rex at her side.

Meanwhile, a grassroots effort is under way to gain hundreds of
signatures on petitions from people across the region which back
Dana’s quest to keep her dog. Dana is a technical sergeant with the
U.S. Air Force.

In what is being dubbed an unprecedented request, federal
officials in Washington Monday confirmed a line item is being
placed in the massive Defense Appropriations bill which calls for
Dana to be allowed to officially adopt the German Shepherd who was
with her when a roadside bomb ripped through the vehicle she was
riding in near Kirkuk, Iraq, this summer.

Officials said the measure – which is backed by U.S. Sen. John
Warner, R-Va., and U.S. Reps. John Peterson, R-Pa., John Murtha,
D-Pa., and C.W. Bill Young, R-Fla. – would provide $18,000 in
federal funding to the U.S. Air Force for training expenses in
preparing another dog for combat. The Air Force had argued that Rex
was government property, and as such, needed to be returned to
active service.

Warner serves as chairman of the Senate Armed Services
Committee, Young as chairman of the House Defense Appropriations
Subcommittee and Murtha as a ranking member of the
subcommittee.

“I think folks over there (Congress) decided it was in the best
interest of everyone to pass this,” Peterson’s Communications
Director Chris Tucker said. “The bill is expected to be brought up
pretty soon. It’s a bipartisan measure, so those things tend not to
be politicized.”

Tucker said the line item allows the Air Force to ” … recoup all
the money that would have been lost in the adoption process. They
(Air Force) have been arguing they can’t just simply allow Jamie to
adopt the dog.”

Peterson’s office has been in contact with the Air Force for
several months trying to get the measure pushed through, according
to Tucker, including submitting an official request with the
service.

“It really did take an act of Congress for this to happen,”
Tucker said. “From talking to people with the Air Force, I got a
sense that this (adoption) wasn’t a very common request.”

An e-mail seeking comment from Air Force representatives was not
immediately returned.

Tucker said passage of the legislation is likely to occur before
the end of the year, adding “We are prepared to take whatever steps
necessary if something happens in the process. However, it looks
like this is going to happen.”

Echoing Tucker’s belief was a spokeswoman in Murtha’s
legislative office in Johnstown, who added the language for the
resolution wasn’t completed yet. Murtha had apparently been
contacted by the secretary of the Air Force asking for the language
to be inserted.

“There has been no pushback at all (for the legislation),” the
spokeswoman said.

A decorated veteran, Murtha has recently been at the forefront
of a national debate over his stance that the United States should
pull its troops out of Iraq immediately.

Closer to home, an effort is under way to push legislators to
allow the adoption to take place.

The movement is being led by Becky Causer and Laurie Thorton of
Mount Jewett, who know Dana’s family.

“Jamie fought for her country and almost lost her life for it,”
Thorton said. “It just doesn’t seem right for her to lose her dog
now. That would be awful.”

Thorton said the duo have already gathered nearly 200 signatures
from petitions placed in various locations around Bradford, Mount
Jewett and Warren, among other places. Some of the people signing
the petitions are veterans.

According to Thorton, Causer came up with the idea for the
petitions and had them printed off.

“She is just nuts about animals,” Thorton said of Causer. “When
she saw what was happening in the newspaper with Jamie, she felt
something had to be done. We all come from a small town and stick
together.”

Thorton said the petitions will be in place for at least another
week, adding they will then be forwarded on to Peterson’s office.
Among the locations where petitions can be found include Parkview
Supermarket, The New Keystone and the Uni-Mart on East Main Street
in Bradford, the Warehouse in Marshburg, American Legion chapters
and gas stations in Warren.

Dana’s story has attracted national media attention, with such
outlets as The Washington Post, CNN and ABC doing stories on the
adoption effort. Newspapers across the country have also carried
stories about Dana. She also received the Purple Heart and garnered
visits in the hospital from Vice President Dick Cheney and
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

As a result of the bombing, Dana suffered serious injuries to
her lungs, spleen and other internal organs, as well as fractured
her pelvis and spine. She was originally hospitalized at Landstuhl
Regional Medical Center in Germany before being transferred to
Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. Meanwhile, Rex
sustained a minor burn on his nose from the blast.

Dana currently comes to Bradford for therapy and will soon go
back to Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo., with
her husband Mike, who is also in the Air Force. She could not be
reached for comment.