Six Seconds in Ramadi: The Stand of L/Cpl Jordan Haerter & Cpl Jonathan Yale | April 2008

in march 2008 the us marines of the first battalion the north marine regiment deployed from camp lejeune in north carolina to begin a seven-month deployment to iraq arriving in kuwait the battalion moved by road to the iraqi city of ramadi a trip france corporal ernesto travaisso remembers [Music] our right to ramadi from kuwait was long and thankfully peaceful not knowing what to expect and entering enemy territory we stayed at camp ramadi for only four weeks before convoy into our area of operations at joint security station nasa joint security station nazar which was located on the outskirts of the city was a small training outpost for the iraqi police and consisted of several buildings that were garrisoned by 50 us marines and 100 iraqi policemen arriving at the station in mid-april 50 marines from the 1st battalion the 9th marine regiment moved into the outpost for their to take over from the marine to the 2nd battalion the 8th marine regiment they're in the final stages of their tour of iraq and expected to return home to america in a few weeks time security for the outpost was provided by two checkpoints which were manned by at least two u.s marines and 10 iraqi policemen and in the early morning of the 22nd of april 2008 lance corporal ernesto treviso and another marine were posted to one of the checkpoints the two held their posts until 0-600 when they were relieved by large corporal jordan herter of the first battalion the north marines and crippled jonathan yale the second battalion the eighth marines being from two completely different battalions the two had never met before their tasking on the checkpoint where they occupied a sandbagged hut and watched the road running into the outpost with the road as being to ensure no unauthorized personnel or vehicles passed with them at the checkpoint gate were two iraqi policemen in addition to a further eight officers who ran in the junction at the end of the road for two hours the two marines held their posts without incident when suddenly at zero 745 a large blue truck turned it onto the road leading up to the station it was clear the truck was hostile as they began to pick up speed and swerve in and out of the concrete blocks situated on the road realising the threat some of the iraqi policemen at the junction opened fire with their ak-47s whilst others dispersed and sought cover as the truck continued at full speed towards the checkpoint gate here corporal jonathan yale raises m249 light machine gun and began to fire into the cabin of the truck whilst lance corporal jordan hurto who was directly to his side did the same with his m4 laying down accurate fire the two marines stood their ground and were able to kill the driver whose last act was to pull the trigger on a device and detonate over two thousand pounds of explosives stored in the back of the truck inside the joint security station at the time was lance corporal benjamin to page a marine with the first battalion who recalls i heard the m249 go off at a cyclic rate and then a detonation along with a flash it blew me at least three meters from where i was standing then i heard a marine start yelling we got hit we got hit the explosion rocked through the area leaving a one meter deep crater on the road leveling a nearby mosque significantly damaging multiple buildings and wounding eight iraqi police officers 24 civilians and three u.s marines who were standing over 100 meters away recovering from the initial shock of the blast the marines inside the station rushed out to the side of the attack where some established firing positions in case of further threats whilst others tended to the wounded including corporal yale and last couple hurter who both pulled free from the rubble for the now destroyed checkpoint tragically the blast had instantly killed lance corporal jordan herter and left corporal jonathan yale seriously wounded as us marines fought to save his life sadly corporal jonathan yale passed away as a result of his wounds a short while later from when the truck turned onto the road leading to the outpost to the moment it was stopped just meters away from the checkpoint gate only six seconds had passed in that time corporal jonathan yale and lance corporal jordan herter who'd known each other for no more than two hours identified the threat and together made the decision to stand their ground and neutralize the enemy thus saving the lives of over 150 american and iraqi personnel reflecting on the event afterwards lance corporal lawrence tillery the first battalion the knights marines explains i have a son back home and i know if that truck would have made it to where it was going i wouldn't be here today because i lance corporal herta and corporal yale i'll be able to see my son again they gave me that opportunity [Music] another marine staff sergeant kenneth grooms expands in his statement i'm not sure if i could even put in the right words what it took for those two marines that day to stare death in the face and say you're not taking my brothers you are not passing several days after the attack u.s general john kelly who is the overall commander of coalition forces in the ramadi region at the time pushed for the recommendation for both florence corporal jordan herter and crippled jonathan yale to be posthumously awarded the navy cross the us navy's second highest military decoration general kelly later stated six seconds not enough time to think about their families their country their flag or about their lives but more than enough time for two very brave young men to do their duty into eternity [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Liveth For Evermore

Views: 1,199,445

Keywords: British, Military, History, Education, Army, Air Force, Navy, Soldier, Sailor, Airmen, Liveth For Evermore, LFE, Special Forces, USMC, US Marines, Ramadi, Six Seconds in Ramadi: The Stand of L/Cpl Jordan Haerter & Cpl Jonathan Yale | April 2008, 1/9th Marines, 2/8th Marines, US Marine Corps, Kuwait, Iraq, America, USA, American, General John Kelly, Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter, Corporal Jonathan Yale, Semper Fi, US Navy, Navy Cross, Military heroism, L/Cpl Haerter, Cpl Yale, marine corps

Id: CcYjAJRQ26Q

Length: 7min 35sec (455 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 12 2020