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God Bless 'Em All!
The stomping of feet as the Marines turned, the coffin of their fallen comrade in their care, broke the silence outside the First Presbyterian Church in Sag Harbor Monday morning, where hundreds assembled to grieve the death of Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter.
From the grade school children in blue ponchos, to the contingent of police officers, volunteer firefighters and veterans, to those who simply stood with unopened umbrellas as the rain pelted their shoulders, mourners paid quiet tribute to Sag Harbor's first casualty of war in decades.
Haerter, 19, was killed by a suicide bomber in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on Tuesday, but not before he acted heroically to save other U.S. troops, military officials have said.
Haerter, a rifleman at a checkpoint, shot a truck driver when that driver disregarded orders to stop, relatives have said. The truck, which was filled with explosives, then swerved from where other U.S. troops were positioned, the family said they were told by Marines.
Inside the church, the Rev. Steven Howarth told congregants that the family of a military serviceman who Haerter had saved came to Sag Harbor to thank Haerter's family.
"He had determination and a sense of responsibility," Howarth said.
When Haerter learned he was being deployed to Iraq, Howarth said the teenager responded with: "It's what Marines do."
In a letter read aloud to those gathered, Christian Haerter gave his son advice about the perilous landscape he faced in Iraq.
You "should have compassion and humanity and decency, which are not weaknesses in character but strengths. You should never let your guard down."
Against the pale green walls of the church, also known as the Old Whaler's Church, the red, white and blue colors of the U.S. flag draped over Haerter's coffin seemed brighter still.
Haerter, a member of the First Battalion, Ninth Marines, who graduated from Pierson High School in 2006, had been in Iraq less than a month.
His burial was to follow at the Oakland Cemetery in Sag Harbor.
This post edited by wader 02:08 PM 04/28/2008
God Bless 'Em All!
The stomping of feet as the Marines turned, the coffin of their fallen comrade in their care, broke the silence outside the First Presbyterian Church in Sag Harbor Monday morning, where hundreds assembled to grieve the death of Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter.
From the grade school children in blue ponchos, to the contingent of police officers, volunteer firefighters and veterans, to those who simply stood with unopened umbrellas as the rain pelted their shoulders, mourners paid quiet tribute to Sag Harbor's first casualty of war in decades.
Haerter, 19, was killed by a suicide bomber in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on Tuesday, but not before he acted heroically to save other U.S. troops, military officials have said.
Haerter, a rifleman at a checkpoint, shot a truck driver when that driver disregarded orders to stop, relatives have said. The truck, which was filled with explosives, then swerved from where other U.S. troops were positioned, the family said they were told by Marines.
Inside the church, the Rev. Steven Howarth told congregants that the family of a military serviceman who Haerter had saved came to Sag Harbor to thank Haerter's family.
"He had determination and a sense of responsibility," Howarth said.
When Haerter learned he was being deployed to Iraq, Howarth said the teenager responded with: "It's what Marines do."
In a letter read aloud to those gathered, Christian Haerter gave his son advice about the perilous landscape he faced in Iraq.
You "should have compassion and humanity and decency, which are not weaknesses in character but strengths. You should never let your guard down."
Against the pale green walls of the church, also known as the Old Whaler's Church, the red, white and blue colors of the U.S. flag draped over Haerter's coffin seemed brighter still.
Haerter, a member of the First Battalion, Ninth Marines, who graduated from Pierson High School in 2006, had been in Iraq less than a month.
His burial was to follow at the Oakland Cemetery in Sag Harbor.
This post edited by wader 02:08 PM 04/28/2008
