Keepers of the Flame

As the sun rose over the town of Ramadi on April 22, 2008, Corporal Jonathan Yale and Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter watched a large truck approach their checkpoint. The truck should have slowed, but it accelerated despite warnings from the two Marines. Bystanders scattered in anticipation of danger, but the young Marines stood their ground and engaged the truck with no regard for their own safety. The truck rushing at Yale and Haerter blew up at the checkpoint, killing Haerter and mortally wounding Yale. Marines as far as 300 feet away were injured by the blast, which threw hunks of concrete through the air and left a hole 20 feet wide in the street. As witnesses pointed out after the attack, it was these two Marines courage and commitment to their mission that saved the lives of 50 Marines and an equal number of Iraqi police who were in the immediate area. Corporal Yale and Lance Corporal Haerters decisive actions, unlimited courage in the face of extreme danger, and complete dedication to duty and their fellow Marines exemplified the fighting spirit shown daily by Marines in Iraq. We all remember the similar terrorist attack against our Marines in Beirut. There, a suicide bomber crashed his truck through the Marine defenses and detonated a bomb that ripped through the barracks, killing 241 Marines, Sailors, and Soldiers.