22APR2008: As one Marine unit arrived, and the other prepared to leave Iraq, members of the two units began working alongside each other for the hand off. As a part of that task, LCpl Jordan Haerter and Cpl Jonathan Yale assumed a guard position at the gate guarding a joint American/Iraq outpost in Ramadi. Tasked with guarding the main entrance, the two Marines stood in a position outside the main gate facing a serpentine of barriers designed to slow any approaching vehicles. Early in their shift that morning, a suspicious truck swerved quickly around the corner and sped into the serpentine, rapidly approaching the gate. In a split second decision, the two Marines recognized instantly what this was, a vehicle borne suicide attack aimed at killing as many of their brothers as possible. As Iraqi soldiers recognized the pending attack, they took the few seconds they had to run but the Marines stood firm. Rather than escape the expected blast, LCpl Haerter and Cpl Yale opened fire and poured all they had into stopping the vehicle. Their shots found their target, knocking out the windshield and killing the driver just short of the main gate but in the attackers last act, he detonated the massive 2,000lb bomb mere feet from the two Marines. The devastating explosion left a deep crater, leveled buildings around the block, and killed the two Marines instantly. Had the truck made it through the gate, dozens of Americans and Iraqis would have been killed. Instead, because LCpl Haerter and Cpl Yale stood their ground, in the face of certain death, their brothers lived. For their heroic sacrifice and placing the lives of their brothers above their own, LCpl Jordan Haerter and Cpl Jonathan Yale would be awarded, posthumously, the Navy Cross. Video footage: 6 seconds in Ramadi

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