NEW YORK (AP) – A New York senator says two heroes are being reunited Friday in California. They’re an ex-Marine and the combat dog with whom she was injured in Iraq.

Former Cpl. Megan Leavey has been trying for five years to adopt Rex. The brown and black German shepherd is retiring at age 10.

Bureaucracy stood in the way until Sen. Charles Schumer intervened. He started a national online petition.

The Air Force, which handles dog training, agreed last month to release Rex to Leavey. She lives in Valley Cottage, N.Y.

Rex has been staying at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

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