thedrifter
02-17-09, 06:04 AM
HE GAVE HIS LIFE FOR HIS COMRADES
By NEIL GRAVES
February 17, 2009 --
A young Marine from Long Island had only seconds to act when a fanatic driving a truck bomb came crashing through barricades and aimed straight for a building where 30 fellow Leathernecks and 25 Iraqi cops were just waking up.
Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter, of Sag Harbor, and fellow Marine Cpl. Jonathan Yale, 21, of Burkeville, Va., knew they had to stop the truck at any cost - and didn't hesitate.
On Friday, the Marine Corps will mark their ultimate sacrifice by posthumously awarding each the Navy Cross.
The bomber, who struck April 22, 2008 in Ramadi, was carrying a ton of explosives as he wove through a series of serpentine barricades, bouncing off the barriers as the truck hurtled toward the building.
The two heroes strafed the truck with fire from M16s and a light machine gun called a squad automatic weapon, or SAW.
The truck detonated against two other buildings, reducing them to dust - and killing the heroes. But all the Marines and cops in the targeted building survived.
Only 22 Marines have been awarded the Navy Cross - the second-highest award for valor after the Medal of Honor - throughout the entire seven-year War on Terror.
"I know the Marines will stand tall that day," said JoAnn Lyles, Haerter's grieving but proud mom.
The explosion was horrific.
"We heard the SAW go off and we turned our heads to see what they were shooting at," said Lance Cpl. Benjamin Tupaj. "About two seconds after that, the truck detonated. There was a shock wave. All I saw was a giant fireball two stories high." Lance Cpl. Nicholas Xiarhos said, "I saw the fireball and then the whole area was filled with dust and smoke."
Xiarhos also saw the two young men who had saved his life. "They were out there [in the rubble]. The corpsmen reached them immediately and started giving them aid."
Haerter was already gone, and Yale would hang on for only a few minutes.
"I think Jordan would think he was doing what any Marine in his position would do," said his dad, Chris Haerter.
He said his son learned to fly a plane at 16, and the dad was surprised Jordan didn't enlist in the Air Force. But the youth believed that the Marines "was the hardest service; it was the one most respected out of all the armed services," said the father.
Shortly after the attack, Chris Haerter was watching CNN.
"The anchor said two Marines were killed in Ramadi and in my heart, I knew one was Jordan," he said. "He might as well had been talking to me."
The elder Haerter then went out for a walk, but "the minute I stepped on the sidewalk, I saw two Marines in full dress, getting out of a car. You never see Marines in Sag Harbor."
Next, he saw someone else step from the car, his ex-wife, Lyles, and he knew that what he had felt in his gut at seeing the TV news story had turned real.
The ceremony, presided over by Navy Secretary Donald Winter in Quantico, Va., will be attended by dozens of friends, relatives and fellow Marines.
"It's truly an honor," said Lyles. "Of course, I'd trade it all to have him back."
neil.graves@nypost.com
Ellie
By NEIL GRAVES
February 17, 2009 --
A young Marine from Long Island had only seconds to act when a fanatic driving a truck bomb came crashing through barricades and aimed straight for a building where 30 fellow Leathernecks and 25 Iraqi cops were just waking up.
Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter, of Sag Harbor, and fellow Marine Cpl. Jonathan Yale, 21, of Burkeville, Va., knew they had to stop the truck at any cost - and didn't hesitate.
On Friday, the Marine Corps will mark their ultimate sacrifice by posthumously awarding each the Navy Cross.
The bomber, who struck April 22, 2008 in Ramadi, was carrying a ton of explosives as he wove through a series of serpentine barricades, bouncing off the barriers as the truck hurtled toward the building.
The two heroes strafed the truck with fire from M16s and a light machine gun called a squad automatic weapon, or SAW.
The truck detonated against two other buildings, reducing them to dust - and killing the heroes. But all the Marines and cops in the targeted building survived.
Only 22 Marines have been awarded the Navy Cross - the second-highest award for valor after the Medal of Honor - throughout the entire seven-year War on Terror.
"I know the Marines will stand tall that day," said JoAnn Lyles, Haerter's grieving but proud mom.
The explosion was horrific.
"We heard the SAW go off and we turned our heads to see what they were shooting at," said Lance Cpl. Benjamin Tupaj. "About two seconds after that, the truck detonated. There was a shock wave. All I saw was a giant fireball two stories high." Lance Cpl. Nicholas Xiarhos said, "I saw the fireball and then the whole area was filled with dust and smoke."
Xiarhos also saw the two young men who had saved his life. "They were out there [in the rubble]. The corpsmen reached them immediately and started giving them aid."
Haerter was already gone, and Yale would hang on for only a few minutes.
"I think Jordan would think he was doing what any Marine in his position would do," said his dad, Chris Haerter.
He said his son learned to fly a plane at 16, and the dad was surprised Jordan didn't enlist in the Air Force. But the youth believed that the Marines "was the hardest service; it was the one most respected out of all the armed services," said the father.
Shortly after the attack, Chris Haerter was watching CNN.
"The anchor said two Marines were killed in Ramadi and in my heart, I knew one was Jordan," he said. "He might as well had been talking to me."
The elder Haerter then went out for a walk, but "the minute I stepped on the sidewalk, I saw two Marines in full dress, getting out of a car. You never see Marines in Sag Harbor."
Next, he saw someone else step from the car, his ex-wife, Lyles, and he knew that what he had felt in his gut at seeing the TV news story had turned real.
The ceremony, presided over by Navy Secretary Donald Winter in Quantico, Va., will be attended by dozens of friends, relatives and fellow Marines.
"It's truly an honor," said Lyles. "Of course, I'd trade it all to have him back."
neil.graves@nypost.com
Ellie