Sad deal, and my heart goes out to the friends and family of Santos Cardona. In this incident, both the handler and dog were killed. I also posted a little story about what this company was actually doing over there, and it sounds like it was really dangerous work. Especially if these bomb sniffing dogs and handlers were targeted by the Taliban, and caught by a secondary IED. I do not know if Cardona was working on the contract listed in the second article, but it is significant to point out the nature of his work. –Matt
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Tampa Contractor Killed In Afghanistan
By KATIE CORONADO
March 4, 2009
“I cried, when I got off the phone; I don’t think I’ve ever sobbed like I did at that moment.”
It has been less than a week since 36-year-old Heather Ashby received the news that her partner of 11 years was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.
Ashby said Santos Cardona was on a patrol early Saturday morning. There had been many roadside bombs in the past few days, and “they wanted him to go out with his dog. The explosion split the Humvee he was in, and it landed on top of him. He was killed instantly.”
