Hundreds gather as Marine's body returns home

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My small town has just lost its third teenager inside of a year, this time to the war in Iraq.



A police escort on Main Street in Sag Harbor is part of the procession for Sag Harbor native Marine Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter, who was killed in Iraq earlier this week. Haerter joined the Marines three months after his graduation from Pierson High School and was deployed a month ago to provide security at military checkpoints near the western Iraq city of Ramadi, where the attack occurred. He ultimately planned to return home and become a Sag Harbor police officer, his family said.
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My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families who have had a loved one make the ultimate sacrifice.

[mockingbird812]

God bless this Marine and his family.

[71-LS6]

The best of the best. God bless him and the others who have died protecting us from the bad guys in this world.

[Dog427435]

[b] God bless the protectors of our country.

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Lance Corporal Haerter will be in our prayers.

[GM-26]

Today on the Southern State Parkway, I saw the police escort. A very sad story.

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In Sag Harbor on this Saturday morning, hundreds attended a ceremony to honor and celebrate the life of fallen 19-year-old U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter, a Pierson High School graduate, with the unveiling of a monument in his memory and the dedication and renaming of the Sag Harbor-North Haven Bridge in his honor.

During the ceremony, which lasted from 10:30 a.m. until just before noon, U.S. Marines joined state, county and local officials—including U.S. Representative Tim Bishop, New York State Senator Ken LaValle, State Assemblymen Fred W. Thiele Jr., and Sag Harbor Village Mayor Greg Ferraris—who shared sentiments about Lance Cpl. Haerter and his heroism. They then unveiled the monument and dedicated what will now be called the the Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter Veterans Memorial Bridge.

Lance Cpl. Haerter died in April, early in his first tour of duty in Iraq, when a suicide bomber drove a truck through the checkpoint he was guarding outside the city of Ramahdi. Military officials said his actions, resulting in the early detonation of the bomb, saved the lives of more than 30 Marines and more than 50 Iraqi police.

Along with citizens, officials and veterans, 40 Marines from the young man’s regiment, 1st Battalion 9th Marines, also known as “The Walking Dead,” were on hand to remember their fallen brother in arms.

Lance Cpl. Haerter was the first Sag Harbor soldier to die in combat since World War II.














Chopper salutes bridge video

[mockingbird812]

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Jordans' Mom and Dad

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Members of the First Battalion Ninth Marine Regiment, which was Jordan’s regiment.

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Everyone was there.