They Hunted Bombs Together in Afghanistan, Then Were Split Up Without a Goodbye. Four Years Later, the Marine Waited at the Airport

Jeff DeYoung was a young Marine from Muskegon, Michigan, when he went to war.

He met Cena, a black Labrador, at bomb-dog training in 2009. That fall, the two were sent to Afghanistan together.

Their job was one of the most dangerous there is. Cena walked out in front of the troops, sniffing for hidden explosives.

The two were inseparable. Once, when the shooting started, Jeff threw himself on top of Cena to protect him. Another time, he carried Cena across a river.

“He’s not my best friend,” Jeff said. “He’s my brother.”

But when Jeff’s tour ended, the two were separated without even a goodbye. Cena kept working with the Marines. Back home, Jeff struggled with post-traumatic stress, and he missed his dog every day.

Then, in 2014, Jeff got the news he had been praying for. Cena was retiring because of a hip injury, and with help from American Humane and Mission K-9 Rescue, he could come home to Jeff.

On June 5, 2014, Jeff waited at Detroit Metro Airport. Then Cena walked out, and the two were finally together again.

“It’s all my Christmases rolled into one,” Jeff said. “I dreamed of this for four years and now it’s happening.”

Cena spent the rest of his life at home with Jeff in Muskegon, helping him heal. When he passed in 2017, the town gave him a hero’s farewell.

Welcome home, Cena.

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