RAMADI, IRAQ (April 29, 2008) – It was a typical quiet morning on April 22, with the temperature intensifying as a bright orange sun emerged high from the horizon.

Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter, a rifleman with 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, and Cpl. Jonathan T. Yale, a rifleman with 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, RCT-1, were standing post, just as they’ve done numerous times before. During a standard length watch in a small checkpoint protected by concrete barriers where they overlooked the small gravel road, lined with palm trees leading to their entry control point.

However, this morning would be different. Quickly it would turn, chaotic then tragic. Two Marines would gallantly sacrifice their lives so others could live.

A truck packed with thousands of pounds of explosives entered the area where Haerter and Yale were standing guard. Realizing the vehicles intentions Haerter and Yale without hesitation stood their ground, drew their weapons and fired at the vehicle. The truck rolled to a stop and exploded, killing the two Marines.

“I was on post the morning of the attack,” said Lance Cpl. Benjamin Tupaj, a rifleman with 3rd Platoon, Police Transition Team 3, Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines. “I heard the (squad automatic weapon) go off at a cyclic rate and then the detonation along with a flash. Then I heard a Marine start yelling ‘we got hit, we got hit.’ It was hectic.”

In the face of a committed enemy, Haerter and Yale stood their ground, in turn saving the lives of numerous Marines, sailors, Iraqi Policemen, and civilians. Both Marines displayed heroic, self-sacrificing actions and truly lived up to the Corps values of honor, courage, and commitment.

“They saved all of our lives, if it wasn’t for them that gate probably wouldn’t have held,” Tupaj said. “The explosion blew out all of the windows over 150 meters from where the blast hit. If that truck had made it into the compound, there would’ve been a lot more casualties. They saved everyone’s life here.”

According to official reports the heroic actions of Haerter and Yale’s saved the lives of the 33 Marines and 21 Iraqi Police as well as numerous civilians at the entry control point.

“They are heroes because thousands of pounds (of explosives) would’ve made its way through the gate and many more of us wouldn’t be here,” said Lance Cpl. Lawrence Tillery a rifleman with 3rd platoon. “I have a son back home, and I know if that truck would’ve made it to where it was going – I wouldn’t be here today. Because of Lance Cpl. Haerter and Cpl. Yale, I will be able to see my son again. They gave me that opportunity.”

A week after the attack, the Marines with 3rd platoon, remember their fallen brethren as good friends and Marines

“Cpl. Yale was a great guy, really friendly and kind of shy,” said Hospitalman Eric Schwartz a corpsman with the platoon.

“Haerter was an amazing guy, I knew everything about him. He was my best friend.” said Lance Cpl. Cody Israel, a rifleman with 3rd platoon, Haerter’s roommate for more than a year and half.

Haerter and Yale were both posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal, Combat Action Ribbon and have been nominated for an award for their valor.

Editor’s Note: This story was written by Lance Corporal Casey Jones, a combat correspondent stationed in Camp Ramadi, Iraq. Jones recently completed a story on two Marines that were killed while defending their post. The Marines have been nominated for a Silver Star, the third highest award in the military, for their heroic actions that day.(WITN)

The picture says it all. Former soldier Shaun Clark made a promise to tattoo the name of every soldier lost in Afghanistan, and he’s holding true to that promise. He now has 232 names permanently inked onto his back.

Mr Clark, who served with the 8th Battalion Light Infantry Regiment from 1989 to 1996, was waiting in the tattooist’s chair at 11am this morning to carry out his painful pledge.

The first name was etched on his body just as the traditional Armistice Day two-minute silence began.

He said: ‘I don’t mind suffering for a few days if I can let the lads know that people really care about what they’re doing out there, and raise some money for the guys coming home wounded as well.

‘The family thought I was mad to begin with, but they’ve come round to the idea now, and my wife is backing me all the way.’

The married father-of-two from Doncaster hopes his challenge will raise £500 for the charity Help for Heroes.

He plans on updating the sombre list every year on Remembrance Day if required.

Before his ordeal began, Mr Clark said: ‘It’s going to be painful business but it’s nothing compared to what the troops are going through every single day on the front line.’

He added: ‘I know it’s a bit extreme covering the top half of your body front and back with 223 names, but it’s my way of honouring all those men and women and it’ll be there as a memorial for as long as I live.’
Mr Clark

Mr Clark hopes to raise £500 for Help4Heroes through his ordeal

Mr Clark said: ‘I wanted to do something to raise money for the heroes who still need help and to honour the memory of the fallen.

‘I’ve still lots of friends from my days in the Army over in Afghanistan and there’s lots of Donny lads out there as well.

‘Lots of people do things to raise money but I wanted to do something different and something permanent.

‘It’s not just about raising money – it’s also about letting these lads know that people care about what they’re doing.’ (DailyMail.co.uk)

His family and fellow soldiers remembered the best of this brave man:

Schmid, also known as Oz, was from Winchester, Hampshire. His wife, Christina, said: “Oz was a phenomenal husband and loving father who was cruelly murdered during a relentless five-month tour. He was my best friend and soulmate. The pain of losing him is overwhelming. I take comfort knowing he saved countless lives with his hard work. I am so proud of him.”

He added: “To see him out here in Afghanistan was to view a man very much in his element; he simply loved what he did. In fact, you would swear that he was born for it.” (Guardian.co.uk)

Is there anything more horrific than burying a loved one felled in a war?  Perhaps. Some families of those who have fought overseas have never received closure in the form of their loved ones’ remains or even a small personal memento.  In 1947, having calculated that the whereabouts of 78,750 American soldiers remained unknown after World War II, the United States Air Force dedicated the third Friday of every September as POW/MIA Recognition Day.

Over the course of the next six decades, the number of missing warriors rose.  The Korean War claimed 8,051; Viet Nam, 1,742.  The Cold War took another 165 and the Gulf War, 7.  To date, the sole American soldier missing in Iraq is Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie.  These numbers do not include personnel killed in action and never brought home.

JPAC (Joint POW-MIA Accounting) is the governmental organization charged with the daunting task of locating, identifying, and returning to their native soil the aforementioned service men and women.  Housed in Hawaii, JPAC has been headed, since 2008, by Rear Admiral Donna L. Crisp.  Colonel John M. Sullivan serves as Deputy Commander, Johnnie E. Webb as Deputy Public Relations-Legislation Affairs, Sergeant  Major Jackie D. Brown Jr. as Command Senior Enlisted Leader, and Dr. Thomas D. Holland as Scientific Deputy Director for the Central Identification Lab.  In addition to these officers are teams dedicated to search and retrieval missions, comprising archaeologists, anthropologists, linguists, and deontologists.  A quick second read of those job titles is indicative of the enormity of JPAC’s objectives.

…On the third Friday in September, the State of New Jersey honors its POW-MIA‘s with a breakfast sponsored by Assemblymen Jack Conners and Herb Conaway.  These public officials invite veterans from all over the state to join in a memorial ceremony dedicated to the men and women who never made it home from the wars.  Honored Guests at the 2008 event included WWII POW veteran Joseph O’Donnell, Mrs. Judith Young, who is a Past President of the “Gold Star Mothers,” Mrs. Anna Marko of Cherry Hill, an 84 year old widow of WWII POW Leon Marko, State Adjutant General Glenn Reith, Colonel Stephan Abel, and other veteran dignitaries.

Read the rest of the article…

Barry Delaney lost his friend Private Kevin Elliott, who last month was killed in Afghanistan while on foot patrol. He was only 24 years old. Barry went all out in his fulfillment of the pact, donning a lime green dress, pink leg warmers and black boots. As the saluting shots were fired to commemorate a military death, Barry knelt by his friend’s grave and wept.

Read the full story here.

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/

Our hearts are with you Kevin. You, and every other person who lost a loved one for from home.

Harry Patch was a young apprentice plumber when war broke out and was called into service in 1916. He didn’t agree with war and was reluctant to go.

Born in southwest England in 1898, Mr. Patch was a teenage apprentice plumber when he was called up for military service in 1916. After training, he was sent to the trenches as a machine-gunner in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry.

The five-man Lewis gun team had a pact to try not to kill any enemy soldiers, but to aim at their legs unless it came down to killing or being killed, he said.

Mr. Patch was part of the third battle of Ypres in Belgium. The offensive began on July 31, 1917, and it rained all but three days of August. It was not until Nov. 6, 1917, that British and Canadian forces had progressed five miles to capture what was left of the village of Passchendaele. The cost was 325,000 Allied casualties and 260,000 Germans.

Mr. Patch’s war had ended on Sept. 22, when he was seriously wounded by shrapnel, which killed three other members of his machine-gun team.

“My reaction was terrible; it was losing a part of my life,” he said.

After losing the majority of his team, Patch was taken to a hospital, where he had to have the shrapnel removed from his body without the aid of anesthesia. He and the other machine gun team survivor both agreed never to share the details of their comrades deaths with the families. For them it was too horrible to share.

World War I was a brutal and grisly event – a dark time in world history. The advent of new weapons technology meant that the killing could be done with horrific efficiency. It was war in a way that no one ever dreamed of being possible. This post is in memory of, not only Harry Patch, but all the brave soldiers who endured hell in the trenches.

Click here to read the entire article about Harry Patch. Defininely read it.

Living to 113 and 42 days earned him a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest man in the world. But Henry was exceptional for far more than his age.

The valiant First World War veteran did much more than any history book to ram home the realities of war.

Honoured He was the last survivor of the Battle of Jutland in 1916, a survivor of the Battle of Ypres in 1917, and the sole survivor of the original RAF.

Henry’s astonishing stamina, determination and loyalty to lost comrades saw him work constantly to ensure his memories – and their sacrifices – were not forgotten.

Blind, almost deaf and gnarled with arthritis, he made scores of personal visits each year to tell his stories to young people and spread a message of peace. The first time we met was four years ago among rows of stark headstones at the Longuenesse military cemetery in St Omer, France.

Henry had made the exhausting 450-mile journey from his home in Eastbourne, East Sussex, by car.

But he garnered every ounce of strength he had to struggle out of his wheelchair and stand at the gravesides to pay his fallen comrades the respect they deserved. Read on…

Incredible. I recommend continuing with the article. Henry certainly had an incredible life, and may he rest peacefully now that he has reached the end of it.