thedrifter
02-28-09, 05:54 AM
Obama visits wounded
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February 27, 2009 - 6:14 PM
JENNIFER HLAD
President Barack Obama spoke at Camp Lejeune on Friday in front of thousands of Marines.
He singled out two who could not be there.
On April 25, 2008, the Department of Defense announced the April 22 deaths of Lance Cpl. Jordan C. Haerter, 19, of Sag Harbor, N.Y., and Cpl. Jonathan T. Yale, 21, of Burkeville, Va. were attributed to "wounds suffered while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq."
Less than a year later, the two Camp Lejeune Marines were honored as heroes.
The morning of April 22, 2008, Yale and Haerter were standing post at an entry control point in Ramadi, Iraq, when a large water truck approached, weaving quickly through the obstacles designed to slow vehicles down.
"In an age when suicide is a weapon, they were suddenly faced with an oncoming truck filled with explosives. These two Marines stood their ground. These two Marines opened fire. And these two Marines stopped that truck," Obama said. "When the thousands of pounds of explosives detonated, they had saved 50 Marines and Iraqi police who would have been in the truck's path, but Cpl. Yale and Lance Cpl. Haerter lost their own lives."
Yale and Haerter were each presented posthumously with the Navy Cross, the highest medal given by the Department of the Navy and the second highest award given for valor.
"America's time in Iraq is filled with stories of men and women like this," Obama said. " ... They live on in the memories of those who wear your uniform, in the hearts of those they loved, and in the freedom of the nation they served."
Obama also shined a spotlight on those who were wounded while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The war "endures in the wound that is slow to heal, the disability that isn't going away, the dream that wakes you at night, or the stiffening in your spine when a car backfires down the street," he said, promising to continue building wounded warrior facilities and investing in identifying and treating post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and other combat injuries.
After the speech, he met briefly with the families of Yale and Haerter and also visited the Marines and sailors of Camp Lejeune's wounded warrior barracks - many of whom battle every day with what he called, during his speech, the "signature wounds of this war."
"You teach us that the price of freedom is great. Your sacrifice should challenge all of us - every single American - to ask what we can do to be better citizens," Obama said.
Ellie
Comments | Recommend
February 27, 2009 - 6:14 PM
JENNIFER HLAD
President Barack Obama spoke at Camp Lejeune on Friday in front of thousands of Marines.
He singled out two who could not be there.
On April 25, 2008, the Department of Defense announced the April 22 deaths of Lance Cpl. Jordan C. Haerter, 19, of Sag Harbor, N.Y., and Cpl. Jonathan T. Yale, 21, of Burkeville, Va. were attributed to "wounds suffered while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq."
Less than a year later, the two Camp Lejeune Marines were honored as heroes.
The morning of April 22, 2008, Yale and Haerter were standing post at an entry control point in Ramadi, Iraq, when a large water truck approached, weaving quickly through the obstacles designed to slow vehicles down.
"In an age when suicide is a weapon, they were suddenly faced with an oncoming truck filled with explosives. These two Marines stood their ground. These two Marines opened fire. And these two Marines stopped that truck," Obama said. "When the thousands of pounds of explosives detonated, they had saved 50 Marines and Iraqi police who would have been in the truck's path, but Cpl. Yale and Lance Cpl. Haerter lost their own lives."
Yale and Haerter were each presented posthumously with the Navy Cross, the highest medal given by the Department of the Navy and the second highest award given for valor.
"America's time in Iraq is filled with stories of men and women like this," Obama said. " ... They live on in the memories of those who wear your uniform, in the hearts of those they loved, and in the freedom of the nation they served."
Obama also shined a spotlight on those who were wounded while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The war "endures in the wound that is slow to heal, the disability that isn't going away, the dream that wakes you at night, or the stiffening in your spine when a car backfires down the street," he said, promising to continue building wounded warrior facilities and investing in identifying and treating post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and other combat injuries.
After the speech, he met briefly with the families of Yale and Haerter and also visited the Marines and sailors of Camp Lejeune's wounded warrior barracks - many of whom battle every day with what he called, during his speech, the "signature wounds of this war."
"You teach us that the price of freedom is great. Your sacrifice should challenge all of us - every single American - to ask what we can do to be better citizens," Obama said.
Ellie