Time and time again, dogs have proven that they are our best friends whether in war or peace.

It was October 22, 2014. President Barrack Obama and his family were in the White House when an intruder forced his way into the property.

The intruder dashed through the north lawn but didn’t get too far when the two good boys intercepted him. One of which has long retired after the engagement and has received an award for his heroic service.

Former Secret Service Special Operations canine handler Marshall Mirarchi remembers it all too well.

Service agents already have the intruder at gunpoint when a black shadow leaped past them and towards the culprit. The black-coated Belgian Malinois went after the intruder until he pushed him back to the perimeter fence.

Mirarchi shared that an intense fight ensued during the encounter.

“It was very hard to watch,” said Miraichi in a video posted about one of the events that honored Hurricane. “I’ve never had to see my dog get hit like that, slammed like that, kicked, punched. He was cut up pretty good from the fight. I knew it was bad. Hurricane went in and did that so we didn’t have to.”

For Mirarchi, however, Hurricane did more than protect the president.

He explained that while some people think that Hurricane did what he had to do because he knew the president was on the premises, Mirarchi clarified that it’s far from the truth.

“People say that’s because he’s protecting the President. I say, he doesn’t know the President is back there. That’s me, he’s not going to let that guy get to Dad,” he said. And through Hurricane’s quick action, he also saved Secret Service agents in the process.

To recognize his heroic deed, Hurricane will be receiving the Distinguished Service Medal.

The ceremony is hosted by Angels Without Wings, Inc., the Livingood Group LLC, and the U.S. War Dogs Association.

“On every shift of every day, we at the Secret Service strive to uphold five core values; Duty, Honor, Loyalty, Justice, and Courage,” said Uniformed Division Assistant Chief Michael Buck during the ceremony. “They are the five points of our agency’s star, and on a dark night in October 2014, they were embodied by a very good boy named Hurricane.”

Hurricane is one of six dogs to be awarded this year.

The other dogs are Smoky, a Yorkshire Terrier and a World War 2 veteran from the 5^th Army Air Force. During the war, she helped restore communications in the field after going through a 70-foot pipe that was eight inches wide.

Another veteran is Nemo, a German shepherd embedded with the US Air Force. During the Vietnam War, he alerted his unit of a group of enemy commandoes crawling through the brush. He was shot twice but despite the wounds, he crawled over his handler to protect him.

Cairo, serving in Afghanistan with the SEAL Team 6, provided perimeter security during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

Today on #WorldAnimalDay, we’re celebrating a pretty remarkable dog, @hurricane_k9. pic.twitter.com/STVbha5U9L

— U.S. Embassy London (@USAinUK) October 4, 2019

Meanwhile, Ziggy and Feco are both career K9 dogs whose contributions in various operations proved invaluable.

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Source: Facebook – K9 Hurricane’s Heroes, Secret Service, Animals War and Peace, Twitter – @USAinUK, ABC News, WJLA