‘It's remarkable what those guys did'

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‘It's remarkable what those guys did' <br />
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February 19, 2009 - 7:19 PM <br />
JENNIFER HLAD <br />
<br />
The morning of April 22, 2008, Cpl. Jonathan Yale and Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter were...

[thedrifter]

Lejeune Marines awarded Navy's highest award
The Associated Press
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CAMP LEJEUNE - Two Camp Lejeune Marines will be honored posthumously by the Secretary of the Navy.

Secretary Donald C. Winter will present the Navy Cross at a ceremony Friday at the National Museum of the Marine Corps near Quantico, Va.

Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter of Sag Harbor, N.Y., and Cpl. Jonathan Yale of Burkeville, Va., were killed in April 2008 by a suicide bomber. The Marines opened fire stopping the attack, but were mortally wounded by the explosion. They are credited with saving more than 50 Marines and Iraqi police.

The Navy Cross is the Navy's highest award for combat valor. To date, 25 such honors have been awarded since Sept. 11, 2001.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Navy Cross for Sag Harbor Marine slain in Iraq
BY MARTIN C. EVANS | martin.evans@newsday.com
10:34 PM EST, February 19, 2009

The sounds of a somber commemoration rehearsal echoed in the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Va., Thursday morning, as members of the 233-year-old branch of the military prepared to posthumously award its highest honor to a slain 19-year-old from Sag Harbor.

Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter will present the Navy Cross in the names of Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter and a fellow Marine today. Haerter and Cpl. Jonathan Yale were killed in Iraq last April while guarding a sentry post.

"I was not surprised by his actions," said Lt. Daniel Runzheimer, who commanded the 49-member platoon in which Haerter served and attended the rehearsal. "That's just the kind of man he was."

Haerter and Yale, of Burkeville, Va., were standing guard at a base in Ramadi April 22 when the driver of an approaching truck ignored orders to stop. Haerter and Yale fired at the driver, bringing the truck to a halt within a few feet of them. But the driver detonated a cargo of about 2,000 pounds of explosives, killing the two Marines.

Marine officials say without their actions as many as 30 of their fellow troops nearby on the base would have perished in the powerful blast, which leveled a nearby building, destroyed much of a mosque and shattered windows hundreds of feet away.

Haerter's death has spread both sadness and pride throughout the eastern Long Island community where he grew up. Some five dozen friends and supporters have signed up to travel to the ceremony on a Hampton Jitney chartered bus, scheduled to leave at 2 a.m. today from the parking lot at Sag Harbor's Pierson High School, where Haerter graduated in 2006. More are traveling by car.

"It was pretty tough in general for the platoon when it happened," said Runzheimer. "It inspired us to give it all we had for the next six months we were there. We all owed it to Jordan to be successful because of the sacrifice he had given."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines honored at ceremony today
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February 20, 2009 - 5:40 PM
JENNIFER HLAD

QUANTICO, Va. - Cpl. Jonathan Yale and Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter are "American heroes" who stood their ground in the face of a determined enemy, showing "extraordinary heroism" with their last selfless act, Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter said Friday during a ceremony to present both men's families with Navy Cross medals.

In April of 2008, Iraq had a democratically elected government and was moving forward, but there were still "embittered and desperate insurgents" carrying out attacks, Winter said. However, "they had not counted on the likes of Jonathan Yale and Jordan Haerter."

The morning of April 22, 2008, Yale and Haerter were standing post at an entry control point at Joint Security Station Nasser in Ramadi, Iraq. Yale, 21, had been in Iraq for roughly six months as a squad automatic weapon gunner with 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. Haerter, 19, had been in the country about a month as a rifleman with 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment. The units were in the middle of transferring responsibility from 2/8 to 1/9.

At about 8 a.m., a large truck approached the entry control point, weaving quickly through the concrete barriers in place to slow vehicles down.

The two men "recognized the threat of a suicide bomber driving a truck capable of carrying a large quantity of explosives," according to their award citations.

"Although not from the same unit, they acted as one in response to the threat," Winter said.

Yale and Haerter fired at the truck. It stopped a few feet in front of them and detonated about 2,000 pounds of explosives. Lance Cpl. Benjamin Tupaj was nearby, on post on a roof, when he heard the squad automatic weapon fire. When he turned, he saw a fireball about two stories high. The explosion blew him off his feet.

Staff Sgt. Kenneth Grooms was Haerter's platoon sergeant. He was about 100 meters away when the truck detonated, and by the time he got to the site, Haerter was already dead and Yale was gravely injured.

"If they hadn't shot the guy, I wouldn't be giving this interview right now," he said Friday before the ceremony at the National Museum of the Marine Corps. "They made a stand ... Because they did it, they saved our lives."

1st Sgt. Darrell Rowe was company sergeant for Weapons Company, 2/8. He said he was not surprised that Yale reacted the way he did.

"In the heat of the moment, the training that we do go through ... came through," he said.

Their actions saved the lives of about 20 Marines and about 30 Iraqi policemen, Rowe said.

"The vehicle was never intended for them," he said. It was intended to run into one of the buildings.

Winter presented Navy Cross medals to Yale and Haerter's families Friday morning, saying the two Marines "would make our Founding Fathers proud."

The Navy Cross is the highest medal for valor awarded by the Department of Navy and is second only to the Medal of Honor.

Yale and Haerter "gave their lives as they lived them, for truths as emphatic as they are simple: Brotherhood. Loyalty. Devotion. Sacrifice," Winter said. "They lived the Marine Corps motto, Semper Fidelis - always faithful. There are fifty people alive today because of Jonathan and Jordan's faithfulness. Semper Fidelis, indeed."

Contact interactive content editor and military reporter Jennifer Hlad at jhlad@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8467.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

LI HERO HONORED

By ADAM NICHOLS


February 21, 2009 --

A hero Long Island Marine who died in Iraq stopping an explosive-laden truck from plowing into his comrades was awarded the Navy Cross yesterday.

Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter, 19, from Sag Harbor, and fellow Marine Cpl. Jonathan Yale, 21, of Virginia died in the blast as they shot at a truck speeding toward a building where 30 fellow Leathernecks and 25 Iraqi cops slept.

Their actions sent the truck crashing into a wall.

"The hardest thing to think about today is that people forget," said Lance Cpl. Nicholas Xiarhos, one of the men Haerter's and Yale's actions saved.

"What they did cannot be forgotten. What they did was nothing less than heroism at its finest."

Haerter and Yale, who made the ultimate sacrifice last April in Ramadi, are among 22 Navy Cross recipients since the seven-year conflict began.

Haerter's family, friends and many of the Marines who served beside him attended yesterday's ceremony in Quantico, Va.

"There are 50 people alive today because of Jonathan and Jordan's faithfulness," said Navy Secretary Donald Winter.

"I have seen the best of America, and these Marines would make our Founding Fathers proud."

adam.nichols@nypost.com

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Profound sacrifice, & thanks 2 who died for America given top Navy medal

BY Stephanie Gaskell
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Saturday, February 21st 2009, 12:45 AM

QUANTICO, Va. - Two brave Marines - including one from Long Island - were awarded the Navy's highest honor Friday for giving their lives to stop a suicide bomber with 2,000 pounds of explosives.

"Today's ceremony gives the American people some sense of the debt we owe the Marines," said Navy Secretary Donald Winter, who thanked both families for their sacrifice to the nation. "These men are shining examples of the promise of America's next generation."

Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter of Sag Harbor, L.I., and Cpl. Jonathan Yale of Burkesville, Va., died last April 22 when they fought off a suicide bomber with a truckload of explosives at their checkpoint in Ramadi, Iraq.

The Marines shot at the truck, preventing the insurgent from reaching the joint security station inside the checkpoint.

The truck blew up - killing Haerter, 19, and Yale, 21 - but they saved the lives of more than 50 soldiers and Iraqi police officers stationed there.

Yesterday, the families of the two fallen Marines were presented with the Navy Cross medal - the Navy's highest medal for valor in combat - in a solemn ceremony at the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

"There are 50 lucky families out there because of what Jordan did," said Haerter's mother, JoAnn Lyles, as she clutched her son's medal in her hand.

Haerter and Yale were manning the checkpoint at JSS Nasser on the eastern outskirts of Ramadi that morning.

Located in western Anbar Province, Ramadi was once a stronghold for the insurgency. Violence has plummeted in the past several years, ever since Sunni sheiks joined with U.S. forces to drive out Al Qaeda terrorists.

By last spring, the Marines had set up several joint security stations alongside Iraqi police across the city.

"They could have let the truck drive through the gate and none of us would have blamed them," said Lt. Dan Runzheimer, 24, Arlington, Tex., who was Haerter's platoon commander.

Runzheimer praised Haerter and Yale for their quick thinking that day. "They made a calculated decision in three seconds or less," he said.

That decision saved everyone inside the joint security station. "If that truck had made it into the compound, there would've been a lot more casualties," said Lance Cpl. Benjamin Tupaj.

Just 25 Navy Cross medals have been awarded since 9/11.

For his fellow Marines, it's a small token of their appreciation. "There's not a day that goes by that we're not thankful for what they did," Runzheimer said.

sgaskell@nydailynews.com

Ellie