Our Latest American Hero #116

jordanhaerter
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Only 116 to represent 4,052....

Marine Lance Cpl. Jordan C. Haerter, 19, of Sag Harbor, N.Y.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died April 22 of wounds sustained while conducting combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq. Also killed was Cpl. Jonathan T. Yale.

“Sag Harbor Community Mourns Marine Killed In Iraq”

Pierson High School binds the tiny Peconic Bay village of Sag Harbor. The fewer than 100 students the school graduates every year know each other from the first grade or from baseball practice or from the Conca D'Oro pizza restaurant on Sag Harbor's shop-lined Main Street.

Yesterday, teachers, students and parents whose lives were brought together by Pierson High joined the long lines outside a funeral home a few blocks from the school.

The people of Sag Harbor came together yesterday for the wake of Marine Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter. Haerter became the village's first battlefield loss since World War II last week when he was killed near Ramadi, Iraq, while defending a checkpoint there

"It's such a small community that you do everything together," said Kate Evarts, whose son, Iain Gordon, had known Haerter since elementary school, played baseball with him, and graduated with Haerter in 2006.

"We went to Little League practices together," Evarts said of Haerter's mother, Joann Lyles, as she made her way from the funeral home after paying her respects. "Now we're going to a funeral together."

Since news of Haerter's death spread among many of the village's 2,359 residents, signs of grief have been everywhere.

On Saturday, members of the community gathered at the high school for a candlelight vigil. Haerter's mother, Joann Lyles, led in the singing of "Amazing Grace." On Main Street, Conca D'Oro had a sign in its window that had reminded people to line the streets for Saturday's motorcade that brought Haerter's body back home. At American Legion Post 388 across from the town dock, where the Sag Harbor Community Band plays Tuesdays in the summer, the flag flew at half-staff.

"It's a small village and everybody cares," said Tod Granger, a member of Sag Harbor Post 9082, Veterans of Foreign Wars, as he waited at the funeral home to pay his respects. "I've been all over the world and there's nothing like Sag Harbor. This community still has a heart."

Haerter's death has reached far beyond Sag Harbor.

Michael Williams, 45, rode more than 13 hours on a motorcycle from his home in Prospect, Ky., to pay respects.

Williams, himself a former Marine, met Haerter's father, Christian Haerter, two years ago through a motorcycle club. In the years since, the men had exchanged e-mails about Haerter's decision to join the Marines.

In yesterday's dank chill, Williams stood outside the funeral home with about two dozen flag-carrying members of the Patriot Guard Riders, a group of motorcyclists that has appeared at funerals nationwide for soldiers killed in battle.

"My son is 19," said Williams. "To lose a son who is only 19, I can feel how that would feel."

Evarts said it did not surprise her that so many in the community would stand in the chill to say goodbye. "It could have been any of our kids," Evarts said, choking back a sob.

"We share the good stuff," she said, as she made her way from the funeral home. "And we share the hard stuff."