General John F. Kelly - Six seconds and then into eternity.

these two young men are not yell loved ones but they are exactly like your loved ones that cut from the same bolt of cloth and had the same kind of Steel in their backs on the 22nd of April 2008 two marine battalions the 1st battalion 9th Marines the walking dead from Vietnam Fame and the 2nd battalion 8th Marines were switching out in a place called Ramadi Iraq one battalion was going home in a few days and the other just starting at seven-month tour - Marines corporal Jonathan Yale and Lance Corporal Jordan hurt her 22 and 20 years old respectively one from each battalion they were assuming the watch together at the entrance gate to an outpost that contained a makeshift barracks housing 50 Marines the same broken-down ramshackle building was also home to 100 Iraqi police who are our allies they were my men in this fight against the terrorists in Ramadi Yale was a dirt-poor mixed race kid from Virginia with a wife and a daughter and a mother and a sister who lived with him and he supported them as well on $13,000 a year herder was a middle-class white kid from Long Island the two of them were from two completely different worlds in our country not good not bad just different had they not joined the Marine Corps they would never have known each other they would never have even understood that multiple Americas exist simultaneously depending on your education level your family's income status maybe but they were Marines they were combat Marines and because of this bond they were brothers as close as if they were born to the same woman the mission orders they receive from the sergeant their squad leader I'm sure went something like this okay you two clowns stand this and let no unauthorized personnel or vehicles pass you clear on that and I'm sure Yale and header then will hurt her then roll their eyes and sit in unison something yes sergeant we got it we know what we're doing screw you again a prior enlisted I know how they think they were then relieved two other Marines on watch because it turned out we're probably the two luckiest Marines on the on the earth that day they assume those posts Yale and herder at a place called the entry control point at NASA and the Sofia district of Ramadi in Iraq main event a few minutes later we'll let very large blue truck turned down the the alleyway that was no more than 100 yards in length it sped its way through the serpentine concrete walls jersey walls the truck then stopped just short of where these two were posted it detonated it killed both of them catastrophic Lee and if you know what combats like you know what I'm talking about when I say catastrophic Lee twenty-four brick masonry houses were damaged or destroyed by the blast a mosque a hundred meters away collapsed the trucks engine came to rest two hundred meters away and it knocked down a building before it came to rest our REO digas are explosive guys reckon that the blast was made by a bomb of at least 2,000 pounds of explosive to died and because these two young men fishermen died they didn't know how to run from danger a hundred and fifty men fifty US Marines that one hundred is Iraq EES were saved when I read the situation report a few hours after it happened I called the regimental commander and lucre prata and I asked him for details about happened it seemed different to me unfortunately Marines dying or being seriously wounded is common income in combat we expect Marines and for that matter soldiers sailors airmen and Coast Guardsmen regardless of rank to do their duty to stand their ground and to die if that's what the mission requires the original commander had just returned from the site he agreed with me four reported to me that no American witnesses to the event that there were no American witnesses just Iraqi police I figured if there was any chance of finding out what actually happened and to recognize these young men for what they've done that have to go down there myself because I understood unfortunately that the bureaucrats in Washington would never accept Iraqi statements for what had taken place if there was any chance at all it had to come unto my signature so I traveled to Ramadi the next day and spoke to half a dozen Iraqi police all of whom told me the same story they said the truck turned down into the alley and sped up as it made its way through the serpentine jersey walls they all said they knew immediately what was going on particularly when the Marines began to fire the Iraqis all began firing as well then - a man ran for safety just prior to the explosion they all survived many were injured some seriously injured but as one of the Iraqis said to me sir they'd run from the danger like any normal man would to save his life but he didn't know until then he said and what he'd learned at that instant was that Americans are not normal with tears welling up he said to me sir in the name of Allah no sane man would have stood there and done what they did no sane man they saved all of us what we did know at the time what I didn't know at the time and only learned a couple of days later after I wrote a summary of statement of these of this bravery had submitted and submitted them both Yale and herder for Navy crosses which is the number of two award for Marines and sailors in combat what I didn't know was that one of the security cameras we had at the location that was damaged initially in the blasts had caught everything it happened exactly as these Iraqis described it to me it took exactly six seconds by that recording from the truck into the valley until it exploded six seconds and you can watch and I did watch many many times on this recording the last six seconds of their lives when it first started I suppose it took about a second or so for the Marines to separately come to the conclusion of what what was going on they had no time to talk it over only enough time to take half an instant and think about what the sergeant maybe had told them a few minutes before let no another unauthorized persons or vehicles to pass at that point I think according to this recording this Marines had about five seconds to let think of it five seconds to live I don't think I knew it they didn't have time took about another two seconds for the two jarheads to raise their weapons to take aim and to open up at that truck by this time the truck was half way through the barriers in gaining speed the whole time here the recording shows the number of Iraqi policemen some of whom had fired their ak-47s were now scattering like the normal and rational men they were some running right past the Marines the two Marines had about three seconds to live for about two seconds more the recording shows the Marines find their weapons non-stop the trucks windshield exploded into shards of glass as their rounds took it apart and undoubtedly tore into the body of this terrorist that was trying to kill their brothers unaware of the danger at the time the Marines and Iraqi soldiers could take comfort in the fact if they'd had known that two Marines were on watch and would die before they ran the truck careens to a stop immediately in front of the two millions and all of this instantaneous violence Yael and her hurt her never hesitated they never stepped back they never even started to step back they never shifted their way with their feet spread shoulder-width apart they leaned into the fire and fired his fast as they could they had only at this point one second to live and then the truck explodes the camera goes blank and the two young men go to they god six seconds not enough time to think about their country or their flag or about their lives or their deaths but more than enough time for two very brave young men like your sons and daughters like their brothers and sisters like your obsess too very brave young men to do their duty for eternity that is the kind of people who are on watch for us all over the world tonight that is the kind of young men and women that came from your families I end tonight by saying to you all that when future generations ask why America is still free and the heyday of these terrorists and their allies was counted in days rather than centuries as they said as they proclaimed woodwork what would happen that our hometown heroes our soldiers our sailors our Airmen our Coast Guardsmen our Marines that they can say because of me and people like me who risked all to protect millions millions who will never know my name that's why we still have in America and for those of you tonight and all the families that have lost the light of their lives they can say to every American that it was my boy or was my girl who stood there post and did their duty into eternity [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: CplFattig

Views: 504,158

Keywords: 1st Battalion 9th Marines, 2nd Battalion 8th Marines, Walking Dead USMC, Americas Battalionj, Jonathan Yale, Jordan Haeter, Marines in Ramadi Iraq, Marines stop homicide bomber

Id: PvKo6SK-Jwc

Length: 11min 55sec (715 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 09 2018