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| 26 - Lucca |
James Daniel Mellick
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Acquisition Number:
Medium: sculpted from laminated basswood, cherry,
and maple
Lucca
Wounded Warrior Dogs Project by James Daniel Mellick
Original work is sculpted from laminated basswood, cherry,
and maple, 2018
Lucca, a German shepherd-Belgian Malinois mix, served with the Marine Corps for over 6 years and 400+ missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Her specialty was locating improvised explosive devices (IEDs), working off-leash at long distances from her Marines. In 2012, while on patrol in Afghanistan, she was hit by an IED blast. Her handler, Corporal Juan Rodriguez, rendered emergency aid, and surgeons later amputated her left leg and treated her burns. After recovering at Camp Pendleton in California, Lucca retired into the care of her original handler, Gunnery Sergeant Chris Willingham. She died in 2018 at age 14. No human fatalities occurred under her watch. The medal Lucca is wearing is the Dickin Medal, awarded to her in 2016 in the United Kingdom by the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals, the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross. This medal is on exhibit at the National Museum of the Marine Corps.
Artist Jim Mellick created Lucca and other life-sized sculptures of military working dogs “to raise awareness and focus the attention on the sacrifices of wounded veterans. The personal narrative of rehabilitated dogs reveals the human cost of life and limb through the wounds of their canine companions in battle.”
Mellick, an Ohio native, has been creating and teaching art since the 1970s. He received his Master of Fine Arts from Southern Illinois University in 1973. His preferred medium is wood from which he sculpts movement, life, and emotion. Mellick’s current traveling show is “Warrior Dogs and Faithful Companions.”
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