thedrifter
05-21-08, 09:36 AM
Letters Home: Focusing on the individual Marine
By 1st Lt. Ted Vickers
May 20, 2008
Editor’s note: In his series “Letters Home,” local resident Ted Vickers, a first lieutenant in the U.S. Marines, provides periodic updates from Iraq.
By having the opportunity to write for my hometown paper, I feel as though I can give the people of the Grand Valley a unique perspective on what it’s like in Iraq. It also affords me the opportunity to tell them about interesting people and unique things that they would never hear about otherwise.
Unfortunately, it seems these days that the only time you hear about individual Marines is if they have, or are suspected of, doing something wrong, or if a Marine is killed in action. But even when they are written about they are just another Marine killed in action along with the running total of all casualties and their place in it. You rarely hear about the heroics of the individual Marine that has become an everyday occurrence in Iraq. They are just written off as a number or an incident ... it is rare to hear about the individual.
Nineteen-year-old Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter, a rifleman with 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, is the only child of Christian Haerter and Joann Lyles, and an apt student who joined the Marine Corps just after high school.
Twenty one-year-old Cpl. Jonathan T. Yale, a rifleman with 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, RCT-1 who was the class clown and a member of his high schools drama and robotics club, and as a child loved to take weekend adventures in the woods with his grandfather.
Both Marines were members of Regimental Combat Team 1 and both were recently killed in action. They paid the ultimate sacrifice and by doing so, saved the lives of over 50 people.
The morning of April 22, 2008, was a typical day for the two Marines standing post at an entry control point (ECP) just outside the city of Ramadi. Haeter had been in Iraq only about a month while Yale had just about a month to go before he would return home. The entry control point is the proverbial “tip of the spear,” where Marines along with their Iraqi counterparts stand a vigilant watch inspecting vehicles and people wishing to enter. The job is crucial in countering the terrorist’s attempts to bring weapons and bomb making equipment into populated areas.
As the morning drew long, a dump truck packed with thousands of pounds of explosives began to make its way through the concrete barriers strategically placed on the small gravel road leading up to the ECP. As it did so, the truck began to accelerate toward the final gate and the position of the two Marines. In an attempt to get the vehicle to stop, the Marines employed standard nonlethal tactics. Realizing the vehicle had no intention of stopping, the two valiantly stood their ground unloading a hailstorm of rounds into the vehicle as it barreled down upon them.
Never hesitating, never flinching, the Marines continued to pour bullets into the vehicle until it rolled to a stop and exploded, killing the two Marines in the ensuing massive explosion.
The Marines could have easily jumped behind barriers, dove in sand bag bunkers, or ran into the compound. Yet they stood their ground and in doing so gave their lives so others could live. If the vehicle had gotten past the Marines and into the compound the casualties would have been numerous. At the time more than 50 Marines, Iraqi policemen and Iraqi civilians were inside the compound just beyond where the Marines stood their post. Had the truck made it past the Marines, all could have been killed.
These Marines heroically stood their ground, willingly sacrificing their lives so that others could live. They saved not only the lives of fellow Marines and Iraqi police that they worked with, but also the lives of Iraqi civilians; they did not know them, yet they without hesitation defended their post until the bitter end.
In 1945, Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz coined the phrase “uncommon valor was a common virtue” when describing the Marines on Iwo Jima. While it was coined years ago, those words still ring true today, especially with the actions of young Marines like Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter and Cpl. Jonathan T. Yale.
These two Marines exemplify the type of Marines who serve with me here in the hot, dusty sands of Iraq. They are true American heroes, and I know that the uncommon valor they displayed that day is a common virtue amongst the Marines that serve with me in Regimental Combat Team 1. They are some of the most magnificent warriors the world has ever seen. I am humble and honored to be among them.
1st Lt. Esteban “Ted” Vickers is a Marine currently serving with Regimental Combat Team 1 in Fallujah, Iraq. He is a 1994 graduate of Fruita Monument High School and is a Fruita resident.
Ellie
By 1st Lt. Ted Vickers
May 20, 2008
Editor’s note: In his series “Letters Home,” local resident Ted Vickers, a first lieutenant in the U.S. Marines, provides periodic updates from Iraq.
By having the opportunity to write for my hometown paper, I feel as though I can give the people of the Grand Valley a unique perspective on what it’s like in Iraq. It also affords me the opportunity to tell them about interesting people and unique things that they would never hear about otherwise.
Unfortunately, it seems these days that the only time you hear about individual Marines is if they have, or are suspected of, doing something wrong, or if a Marine is killed in action. But even when they are written about they are just another Marine killed in action along with the running total of all casualties and their place in it. You rarely hear about the heroics of the individual Marine that has become an everyday occurrence in Iraq. They are just written off as a number or an incident ... it is rare to hear about the individual.
Nineteen-year-old Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter, a rifleman with 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, is the only child of Christian Haerter and Joann Lyles, and an apt student who joined the Marine Corps just after high school.
Twenty one-year-old Cpl. Jonathan T. Yale, a rifleman with 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, RCT-1 who was the class clown and a member of his high schools drama and robotics club, and as a child loved to take weekend adventures in the woods with his grandfather.
Both Marines were members of Regimental Combat Team 1 and both were recently killed in action. They paid the ultimate sacrifice and by doing so, saved the lives of over 50 people.
The morning of April 22, 2008, was a typical day for the two Marines standing post at an entry control point (ECP) just outside the city of Ramadi. Haeter had been in Iraq only about a month while Yale had just about a month to go before he would return home. The entry control point is the proverbial “tip of the spear,” where Marines along with their Iraqi counterparts stand a vigilant watch inspecting vehicles and people wishing to enter. The job is crucial in countering the terrorist’s attempts to bring weapons and bomb making equipment into populated areas.
As the morning drew long, a dump truck packed with thousands of pounds of explosives began to make its way through the concrete barriers strategically placed on the small gravel road leading up to the ECP. As it did so, the truck began to accelerate toward the final gate and the position of the two Marines. In an attempt to get the vehicle to stop, the Marines employed standard nonlethal tactics. Realizing the vehicle had no intention of stopping, the two valiantly stood their ground unloading a hailstorm of rounds into the vehicle as it barreled down upon them.
Never hesitating, never flinching, the Marines continued to pour bullets into the vehicle until it rolled to a stop and exploded, killing the two Marines in the ensuing massive explosion.
The Marines could have easily jumped behind barriers, dove in sand bag bunkers, or ran into the compound. Yet they stood their ground and in doing so gave their lives so others could live. If the vehicle had gotten past the Marines and into the compound the casualties would have been numerous. At the time more than 50 Marines, Iraqi policemen and Iraqi civilians were inside the compound just beyond where the Marines stood their post. Had the truck made it past the Marines, all could have been killed.
These Marines heroically stood their ground, willingly sacrificing their lives so that others could live. They saved not only the lives of fellow Marines and Iraqi police that they worked with, but also the lives of Iraqi civilians; they did not know them, yet they without hesitation defended their post until the bitter end.
In 1945, Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz coined the phrase “uncommon valor was a common virtue” when describing the Marines on Iwo Jima. While it was coined years ago, those words still ring true today, especially with the actions of young Marines like Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter and Cpl. Jonathan T. Yale.
These two Marines exemplify the type of Marines who serve with me here in the hot, dusty sands of Iraq. They are true American heroes, and I know that the uncommon valor they displayed that day is a common virtue amongst the Marines that serve with me in Regimental Combat Team 1. They are some of the most magnificent warriors the world has ever seen. I am humble and honored to be among them.
1st Lt. Esteban “Ted” Vickers is a Marine currently serving with Regimental Combat Team 1 in Fallujah, Iraq. He is a 1994 graduate of Fruita Monument High School and is a Fruita resident.
Ellie