Kyle Smith and his military working dog, Bodza, began a long and lasting friendship in 2012, while both were deployed in Kyrgyzstan. Kyle, a member of the United States Air Force, collaborated closely with Bodza. Kyle didn’t hesitate to adopt his friend and provide him with a magnificent retirement when he finally retired.

While the couple shared many memorable years, Bodza developed a degenerative condition that destroyed his spinal cord when he was 11 years old.

When it came time to say farewell to his faithful and adored pet, Kyle was astonished to be joined by his superiors, who had arrived at the vet’s office unexpectedly, bearing an American flag. Kyle made an emotional gesture by draping the flag over the former military dog.

“For these guys to do this for a dog they’ve never even met…,” he later reflected. That day, he had a lovely send-off.”

“My favorite thing about him was he didn’t care what you were doing, he just wanted to be there doing it with you,” Kyle told Inside Edition. “We all have that dog who is very special to us.”

“I got married with this dog, I got divorced with this dog,” Kyle explained. I’m expecting a son, and the most upsetting aspect is that I wish he was younger so my son could play with him. He was the sweetest dog on the planet.”