Early Bird summary
Tuesday’s Early Bird opens with an article from the New York Times that states, “before he was killed over the weekend, it was not always easy to track the ways that Maulavi Ghulam Dastagir had become an acute shame to the Afghan government.He was a Taliban commander who had helped upend what was once a relatively peaceful area in the northwest, near Turkmenistan — helping give the lie to the idea that the Taliban controlled only the south and east.“Three months ago, he pulled off one of his most audacious raids, destroying an Afghan Army convoy and killing at least 13 men in a battle that ended only when helicopter gunships arrived to reinforce the 200 Afghan soldiers and police officers.“But it was not the ambush in and of itself that made Mr. Dastagir famous across Afghanistan.“Two months earlier, Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai, had intervened to release Mr. Dastagir from jail, where he was being held on charges of conspiring with the Taliban.”
Other noteworthy stories in today’s Early Bird:
§ USA Today (and most other major U.S. dailies) reports that President Obama plans to make a decision soon about sending additional troops to Afghanistan.Taliban insurgents have regained ground, and the Obama administration is contemplating doubling troop levels as part of a strategy to reclaim control. Addressing the war there is one of the administration's top - - and most watched -- priorities.
§ The New York Times reports that the Pakistani government announced Monday that it would accept a system of Islamic law in the Swat valley and agreed to a truce, effectively conceding the area as a Taliban sanctuary and suspending a faltering effort by the army to crush the insurgents.The concessions to the militants, who now control about 70 percent of the region just 100 miles from the capital, were criticized by Pakistani analysts as a capitulation by a government desperate to stop Taliban abuses and a military embarrassed at losing ground after more than a year of intermittent fighting. About 3,000 Taliban militants have kept 12,000 government troops at bay and terrorized the local population with floggings and the burning of schools.
§ USA Today says that Osama bin Laden is most likely hiding out in a walled compound in a Pakistani border town, according to a satellite-aided geographic analysis released today.A research team led by geographer Thomas Gillespie of the University of California-Los Angeles used geographic analytical tools that have been successful in locating urban criminals and endangered species.Basing their conclusion on nighttime satellite images and other techniques, the scientists suggest bin Laden may well be in one of three compounds in Parachinar, a town 12 miles from the Pakistan border. The research incorporates public reports of bin Laden's habits and whereabouts since his flight from the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan in 2001.
§ Financial Times reports that Iraq needs almost three years to prepare its security forces for a sustained fight against insurgents, according to a senior US general in the country.Lieutenant General Frank Helmick’s assessment underscored commanders’ concerns about Barack Obama’s plans for withdrawal.
§ Los Angeles Times reports that North Korea threatened Monday to test a missile capable of reaching the United States, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton began consultations with regional leaders on the security threat from the reclusive state, the global economic crisis and other issues.In an apparent attempt to command attention, North Korea hinted that it will test-launch a Taepodong 2 missile from its eastern coast.
§ The Associated Press reports that, hoping to give new momentum to a plan to rework the deployment of U.S. troops in the Pacific, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton signed an agreement Tuesday with Japan that will move 8,000 Marines off the southern Japanese island of Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam.The framework of the transfer had already been agreed on in 2006, but several major points remain to be worked out, including the location of a base to replace Okinawa's Futenma air station, a major hub for the Marines there.
§ “Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter, of Sag Harbor, and fellow Marine Cpl. Jonathan Yale, 21, of Burkeville, Va., knew they had to stop the truck at any cost - and didn't hesitate,” according to the New York Post. “On Friday, the Marine Corps will mark their ultimate sacrifice by posthumously awarding each the Navy Cross.”
§ The New York Times reports that two submarines carrying nuclear missiles, one French and the other British, collided while submerged on operational patrols in the Atlantic early this month, the British and French defense ministries said Monday.Both vessels returned damaged but otherwise safe to their home ports, with the 250 crew members aboard uninjured and with “no compromise to nuclear safety,” the defense ministries said in terse statements that appeared to have been agreed upon by the nations. The reference appeared to cover the nuclear reactors that power the submarines and the 16 ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads that the British and French vessels each routinely carry on patrols.
Media summary
1. Leading newspaper headlines: The New York Times leads with, and the Los Angeles Times fronts, the Pakistani government's announcement that it would accept the enforcement of Sharia, or Islamic law, in the Swat Valley as part of a cease-fire deal with Islamic militants. (Slate Magazine)
2. Marine commander readies for troops surge: With President Barack Obama set to announce the size of the U.S. troop buildup in Afghanistan, the Marine commander there said more forces are urgently needed. (North County Times, Calif.)
3. He gave his life for his comrades: A young Marine from Long Island had only seconds to act when a fanatic driving a truck bomb came crashing through barricades and aimed straight for a building where 30 fellow Leathernecks and 25 Iraqi cops were just waking up. (New York Post)
4. LCpl Jordan Haerter to receive Navy Cross posthumously: The Secretary of the Navy, Donald C. Winter, is scheduled to present Navy Cross medals, posthumously, to Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter, from Sag Harbor, N.Y., and Cpl. Jonathan T. Yale, from Burkeville, Va., at a ceremony February 20 at the National Museum of the Marine Corps near Quantico, Va. (Sag Harbor Times)
Leading newspaper headlines
The New York Times leads with, and the Los Angeles Times fronts, the Pakistani government's announcement that it would accept the enforcement of Sharia, or Islamic law, in the Swat Valley as part of a cease-fire deal with Islamic militants. Pakistani analysts and human rights groups said the move amounts to a dangerous concession to Islamic extremists, who control much of the region that is a mere 100 miles northwest of Islamabad. The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal's world-wide newsbox lead with, and the NYT off-leads, the last-minute negotiations going on at Chrysler and General Motors as the auto giants rushed to meet the deadline to submit recovery plans to the government by 5 p.m. today. The companies are largely expected to ask for more money when they outline plans to cut production and brands as well as lay off more workers. The WP points out that "as detailed as the plans are, they are more of a starting point than an end."
USA Today leads with word that cyberattacks on government computer networks increased 40 percent last year. While some of that increase may be from better reporting, officials say the threat is real and continually increasing. "Government systems are under constant attack," said the counterintelligence chief in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The LAT continues to lead with California's fiscal crisis as state lawmakers are still unable to get enough votes to pass a budget. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is preparing to send pink slips to 10,000 government workers and plans to stop the remaining public works projects that were protected from earlier cutbacks. The NYT declares that the nation's most populous state "appears headed off the fiscal rails."
The Pakistani government's acceptance of a truce that was offered by the Taliban is unlikely to make Washington very happy, particularly considering that the administration's new special envoy to the region, Richard Holbrooke, visited the area last week. The United States has been pushing the Pakistani government not to give up the fight against the militants, and many analysts say that agreeing to impose Islamic law in the Malakand region would only motivate militants in other parts of the country. "This means you have surrendered to a handful of extremists," said the leader of a movement in favor of an independent judiciary. "The state is under attack; instead of dealing with them as aggressors, the government has abdicated." The LAT points out that many see the development as particularly troubling because the area is far from the Afghan border and "not part of the semiautonomous tribal belt, where militants have a well-established foothold."
Pakistani officials defended the decision and said it was a response to demands from the people that the courts were plagued with corruption and horribly slow. They also claim that Sharia is consistent with existing law and emphasize that the new system won't be similar to what the Taliban imposed in Afghanistan, where women were banned from getting an education and adulterers were stoned to death. But, in fact, no one is quite sure what the effect of imposing Sharia will be, and the LAT specifically notes that it "remains unclear" whether practices that are already evident in tribal areas, such as cutting off a thief's hand, will become the norm.
The NYT takes an interesting front-page look at how Pakistani immigrants from the Swat region say their families are being targeted by Taliban militants because they live in the United States. Militants see Pakistani immigrants as American collaborators, who also happen to be a good source for ransom cash. These immigrants are often left with the feeling that they're actually hurting their families in Pakistan by living in the United States and sending back money. Most troubling of all, many immigrants say they have been targeted by Taliban sympathizers in the United States and many believe the Taliban has "spies" in the United States whose job is to keep tabs on the immigrants, although there's little concrete proof that's the case.
In advance of the deadline for GM and Chrysler to submit their proposals, the Obama administration hasn't been subtle about hinting that the companies may have to restructure under bankruptcy protection. The NYT focuses on the "intense negotiations" going on between GM and the United Automobile Workers over health care for retirees, which was the centerpiece of the 2007 agreement that the automaker reached with the union. The discussions are expected to continue even after the companies present their plans to the government.
Although the White House has decided to get rid of the "car czar" figure, the WSJ makes it clear that investment banker Ron Bloom will take the "lead role" in President Obama's new Cabinet-level task force. People familiar with Bloom's work expect him to be tough on all involved in the restructuring process. "The management of the Big Three are probably not going to like what Ron Bloom has to say; the UAW is not going to like what Ron Bloom has to say; and certainly the stockholders and creditors will not like what he has to say," one person who has worked with Bloom tells the WSJ. The NYT says that once the plans are handed in to the government, the president's task force will take at least a week to complete a review.
While the massive stimulus bill passed by Congress "represents one of the largest federal investments in healthcare in history," the LAT takes a look at how the rules determining who would get help with health insurance were picked "on the fly." Because of last-minute changes on the bill, millions of middle-class Americans who lost their jobs during the recession won't be able to count on the federal government for help with their health insurance. Lawmakers cut a provision allowing the unemployed into the Medicaid insurance program and determined that only workers who were laid off after September are eligible for health insurance subsidies.
Top of the Document
Tuesday’s Early Bird opens with an article from the New York Times that states, “before he was killed over the weekend, it was not always easy to track the ways that Maulavi Ghulam Dastagir had become an acute shame to the Afghan government.He was a Taliban commander who had helped upend what was once a relatively peaceful area in the northwest, near Turkmenistan — helping give the lie to the idea that the Taliban controlled only the south and east.“Three months ago, he pulled off one of his most audacious raids, destroying an Afghan Army convoy and killing at least 13 men in a battle that ended only when helicopter gunships arrived to reinforce the 200 Afghan soldiers and police officers.“But it was not the ambush in and of itself that made Mr. Dastagir famous across Afghanistan.“Two months earlier, Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai, had intervened to release Mr. Dastagir from jail, where he was being held on charges of conspiring with the Taliban.”
Other noteworthy stories in today’s Early Bird:
§ USA Today (and most other major U.S. dailies) reports that President Obama plans to make a decision soon about sending additional troops to Afghanistan.Taliban insurgents have regained ground, and the Obama administration is contemplating doubling troop levels as part of a strategy to reclaim control. Addressing the war there is one of the administration's top - - and most watched -- priorities.
§ The New York Times reports that the Pakistani government announced Monday that it would accept a system of Islamic law in the Swat valley and agreed to a truce, effectively conceding the area as a Taliban sanctuary and suspending a faltering effort by the army to crush the insurgents.The concessions to the militants, who now control about 70 percent of the region just 100 miles from the capital, were criticized by Pakistani analysts as a capitulation by a government desperate to stop Taliban abuses and a military embarrassed at losing ground after more than a year of intermittent fighting. About 3,000 Taliban militants have kept 12,000 government troops at bay and terrorized the local population with floggings and the burning of schools.
§ USA Today says that Osama bin Laden is most likely hiding out in a walled compound in a Pakistani border town, according to a satellite-aided geographic analysis released today.A research team led by geographer Thomas Gillespie of the University of California-Los Angeles used geographic analytical tools that have been successful in locating urban criminals and endangered species.Basing their conclusion on nighttime satellite images and other techniques, the scientists suggest bin Laden may well be in one of three compounds in Parachinar, a town 12 miles from the Pakistan border. The research incorporates public reports of bin Laden's habits and whereabouts since his flight from the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan in 2001.
§ Financial Times reports that Iraq needs almost three years to prepare its security forces for a sustained fight against insurgents, according to a senior US general in the country.Lieutenant General Frank Helmick’s assessment underscored commanders’ concerns about Barack Obama’s plans for withdrawal.
§ Los Angeles Times reports that North Korea threatened Monday to test a missile capable of reaching the United States, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton began consultations with regional leaders on the security threat from the reclusive state, the global economic crisis and other issues.In an apparent attempt to command attention, North Korea hinted that it will test-launch a Taepodong 2 missile from its eastern coast.
§ The Associated Press reports that, hoping to give new momentum to a plan to rework the deployment of U.S. troops in the Pacific, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton signed an agreement Tuesday with Japan that will move 8,000 Marines off the southern Japanese island of Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam.The framework of the transfer had already been agreed on in 2006, but several major points remain to be worked out, including the location of a base to replace Okinawa's Futenma air station, a major hub for the Marines there.
§ “Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter, of Sag Harbor, and fellow Marine Cpl. Jonathan Yale, 21, of Burkeville, Va., knew they had to stop the truck at any cost - and didn't hesitate,” according to the New York Post. “On Friday, the Marine Corps will mark their ultimate sacrifice by posthumously awarding each the Navy Cross.”
§ The New York Times reports that two submarines carrying nuclear missiles, one French and the other British, collided while submerged on operational patrols in the Atlantic early this month, the British and French defense ministries said Monday.Both vessels returned damaged but otherwise safe to their home ports, with the 250 crew members aboard uninjured and with “no compromise to nuclear safety,” the defense ministries said in terse statements that appeared to have been agreed upon by the nations. The reference appeared to cover the nuclear reactors that power the submarines and the 16 ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads that the British and French vessels each routinely carry on patrols.
Media summary
1. Leading newspaper headlines: The New York Times leads with, and the Los Angeles Times fronts, the Pakistani government's announcement that it would accept the enforcement of Sharia, or Islamic law, in the Swat Valley as part of a cease-fire deal with Islamic militants. (Slate Magazine)
2. Marine commander readies for troops surge: With President Barack Obama set to announce the size of the U.S. troop buildup in Afghanistan, the Marine commander there said more forces are urgently needed. (North County Times, Calif.)
3. He gave his life for his comrades: A young Marine from Long Island had only seconds to act when a fanatic driving a truck bomb came crashing through barricades and aimed straight for a building where 30 fellow Leathernecks and 25 Iraqi cops were just waking up. (New York Post)
4. LCpl Jordan Haerter to receive Navy Cross posthumously: The Secretary of the Navy, Donald C. Winter, is scheduled to present Navy Cross medals, posthumously, to Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter, from Sag Harbor, N.Y., and Cpl. Jonathan T. Yale, from Burkeville, Va., at a ceremony February 20 at the National Museum of the Marine Corps near Quantico, Va. (Sag Harbor Times)
Leading newspaper headlines
The New York Times leads with, and the Los Angeles Times fronts, the Pakistani government's announcement that it would accept the enforcement of Sharia, or Islamic law, in the Swat Valley as part of a cease-fire deal with Islamic militants. Pakistani analysts and human rights groups said the move amounts to a dangerous concession to Islamic extremists, who control much of the region that is a mere 100 miles northwest of Islamabad. The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal's world-wide newsbox lead with, and the NYT off-leads, the last-minute negotiations going on at Chrysler and General Motors as the auto giants rushed to meet the deadline to submit recovery plans to the government by 5 p.m. today. The companies are largely expected to ask for more money when they outline plans to cut production and brands as well as lay off more workers. The WP points out that "as detailed as the plans are, they are more of a starting point than an end."
USA Today leads with word that cyberattacks on government computer networks increased 40 percent last year. While some of that increase may be from better reporting, officials say the threat is real and continually increasing. "Government systems are under constant attack," said the counterintelligence chief in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The LAT continues to lead with California's fiscal crisis as state lawmakers are still unable to get enough votes to pass a budget. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is preparing to send pink slips to 10,000 government workers and plans to stop the remaining public works projects that were protected from earlier cutbacks. The NYT declares that the nation's most populous state "appears headed off the fiscal rails."
The Pakistani government's acceptance of a truce that was offered by the Taliban is unlikely to make Washington very happy, particularly considering that the administration's new special envoy to the region, Richard Holbrooke, visited the area last week. The United States has been pushing the Pakistani government not to give up the fight against the militants, and many analysts say that agreeing to impose Islamic law in the Malakand region would only motivate militants in other parts of the country. "This means you have surrendered to a handful of extremists," said the leader of a movement in favor of an independent judiciary. "The state is under attack; instead of dealing with them as aggressors, the government has abdicated." The LAT points out that many see the development as particularly troubling because the area is far from the Afghan border and "not part of the semiautonomous tribal belt, where militants have a well-established foothold."
Pakistani officials defended the decision and said it was a response to demands from the people that the courts were plagued with corruption and horribly slow. They also claim that Sharia is consistent with existing law and emphasize that the new system won't be similar to what the Taliban imposed in Afghanistan, where women were banned from getting an education and adulterers were stoned to death. But, in fact, no one is quite sure what the effect of imposing Sharia will be, and the LAT specifically notes that it "remains unclear" whether practices that are already evident in tribal areas, such as cutting off a thief's hand, will become the norm.
The NYT takes an interesting front-page look at how Pakistani immigrants from the Swat region say their families are being targeted by Taliban militants because they live in the United States. Militants see Pakistani immigrants as American collaborators, who also happen to be a good source for ransom cash. These immigrants are often left with the feeling that they're actually hurting their families in Pakistan by living in the United States and sending back money. Most troubling of all, many immigrants say they have been targeted by Taliban sympathizers in the United States and many believe the Taliban has "spies" in the United States whose job is to keep tabs on the immigrants, although there's little concrete proof that's the case.
In advance of the deadline for GM and Chrysler to submit their proposals, the Obama administration hasn't been subtle about hinting that the companies may have to restructure under bankruptcy protection. The NYT focuses on the "intense negotiations" going on between GM and the United Automobile Workers over health care for retirees, which was the centerpiece of the 2007 agreement that the automaker reached with the union. The discussions are expected to continue even after the companies present their plans to the government.
Although the White House has decided to get rid of the "car czar" figure, the WSJ makes it clear that investment banker Ron Bloom will take the "lead role" in President Obama's new Cabinet-level task force. People familiar with Bloom's work expect him to be tough on all involved in the restructuring process. "The management of the Big Three are probably not going to like what Ron Bloom has to say; the UAW is not going to like what Ron Bloom has to say; and certainly the stockholders and creditors will not like what he has to say," one person who has worked with Bloom tells the WSJ. The NYT says that once the plans are handed in to the government, the president's task force will take at least a week to complete a review.
While the massive stimulus bill passed by Congress "represents one of the largest federal investments in healthcare in history," the LAT takes a look at how the rules determining who would get help with health insurance were picked "on the fly." Because of last-minute changes on the bill, millions of middle-class Americans who lost their jobs during the recession won't be able to count on the federal government for help with their health insurance. Lawmakers cut a provision allowing the unemployed into the Medicaid insurance program and determined that only workers who were laid off after September are eligible for health insurance subsidies.
Top of the Document
MILITARY: Marine commander readies for troops surge
Col. Duffy White says more forces needed to gain and hold ground in Afghanistan
By MARK WALKER - Staff Writer Monday, February 16, 2009 7:07 PM PST ∞
Col. Duffy White
With President Barack Obama set to announce the size of the U.S. troop buildup in Afghanistan, the Marine commander there said more forces are urgently needed."The enemy here is pretty tenacious and is not going to give up," Col. Duffy White said Monday morning during a telephone interview from his headquarters in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. "We need additional forces to keep the people safe."White oversees 2,300 Marines deployed to Afghanistan in November to fight a war that analysts say is spinning out of control. The troops include a helicopter squadron from Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Monday that Obama will decide "within days" when and how many additional troops are going to be dispatched to Afghanistan, one of the world's poorest and most underdeveloped nations.A boost to assist the 33,000 U.S. military and 42,000 troops from other countries is needed to stunt the gains made in recent months by the Taliban, insurgents who once ruled the country until being toppled by the U.S. in late 2001, White said."Afghanistan is much bigger than Iraq, but it has fewer forces," said White, who has served two stints at Camp Pendleton and was commanding the Hawaii-based 3rd Marine Regiment when tapped for the Afghanistan command.The bulk of his forces are conducting counterinsurgency operations and working with Afghan police in and around the Kandahar, Helmand and Farah provinces in the southeast. There are only two paved roads in the region where his troops are working.Seven of his men have been killed since their deployment began, White said, the majority in small engagements and not in large-scale attacks. Twenty-one U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan in 2009, raising the overall number of U.S. military deaths since the war began to 651."Training and mentoring the Afghan National Police have absorbed almost all our time," said the Memphis native, who is on his first Afghanistan assignment following one tour in Iraq. "We're also partnered with an Afghan army company."His forces are comprised of units from Marine bases around the world organized as a special air-ground task force which was dispatched there to replace units from Twentynine Palms and Camp Lejeune, N.C.Last month, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway reiterated his desire to move all his forces out of Iraq in favor of Afghanistan. Service officials have said they believe they can send between 15,000 and 20,000 Marines to Afghanistan this year if their role in Iraq is substantially reduced.Last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Army Gen. David Petraeus, the overall commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, said part of the new strategy in Afghanistan will be moving troops out of bases and smaller outposts and into towns and villages.White said he believes spending long periods in towns and villages along with Afghan forces is crucial to turning back Taliban gains."That was another one of the lessons we learned in Iraq's Anbar province," he said. "The more you can get away from large bases and conduct combined operations with troops from the host nation the better, and that is what we are trying to do."His forces have established some small bases in recent months where, he said, "we're really taking the fight to the enemy and seeing some marked improvements."In another sign of the impending troop buildup, a group of Seabees attached to Camp Pendleton's I Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq was recently deployed to Afghanistan with the mission of building a 430-acre base in the Helmand province.White said the American public will need to be patient. The rapid gains that resulted from the troop surge in Iraq are not likely to come as quickly in Afghanistan.That reality has been reflected in recent weeks by Obama administration officials, who have been tamping down the rhetoric about democracy and stability."Everything in Afghanistan takes more time than we would like," said White, who along with other troops from his headquarters group is scheduled to remain there until late next fall.Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com
Top of the Document
He gave his life for his comrades
FALLEN LI MARINE AWARDED NAVY CROSS
By NEIL GRAVES
HAILING A HERO: Jordan Haerter, who died stopping a suicide bomber in Iraq, is receiving the Navy Cross.
A young Marine from Long Island had only seconds to act when a fanatic driving a truck bomb came crashing through barricades and aimed straight for a building where 30 fellow Leathernecks and 25 Iraqi cops were just waking up.
Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter, of Sag Harbor, and fellow Marine Cpl. Jonathan Yale, 21, of Burkeville, Va., knew they had to stop the truck at any cost - and didn't hesitate.
On Friday, the Marine Corps will mark their ultimate sacrifice by posthumously awarding each the Navy Cross.
The bomber, who struck April 22, 2008 in Ramadi, was carrying a ton of explosives as he wove through a series of serpentine barricades, bouncing off the barriers as the truck hurtled toward the building.
The two heroes strafed the truck with fire from M16s and a light machine gun called a squad automatic weapon, or SAW.
The truck detonated against two other buildings, reducing them to dust - and killing the heroes. But all the Marines and cops in the targeted building survived.
Only 22 Marines have been awarded the Navy Cross - the second-highest award for valor after the Medal of Honor - throughout the entire seven-year War on Terror.
"I know the Marines will stand tall that day," said JoAnn Lyles, Haerter's grieving but proud mom.
The explosion was horrific.
"We heard the SAW go off and we turned our heads to see what they were shooting at," said Lance Cpl. Benjamin Tupaj. "About two seconds after that, the truck detonated. There was a shock wave. All I saw was a giant fireball two stories high." Lance Cpl. Nicholas Xiarhos said, "I saw the fireball and then the whole area was filled with dust and smoke."
Xiarhos also saw the two young men who had saved his life. "They were out there [in the rubble]. The corpsmen reached them immediately and started giving them aid."
Haerter was already gone, and Yale would hang on for only a few minutes.
"I think Jordan would think he was doing what any Marine in his position would do," said his dad, Chris Haerter.
He said his son learned to fly a plane at 16, and the dad was surprised Jordan didn't enlist in the Air Force. But the youth believed that the Marines "was the hardest service; it was the one most respected out of all the armed services," said the father.
Shortly after the attack, Chris Haerter was watching CNN.
"The anchor said two Marines were killed in Ramadi and in my heart, I knew one was Jordan," he said. "He might as well had been talking to me."
The elder Haerter then went out for a walk, but "the minute I stepped on the sidewalk, I saw two Marines in full dress, getting out of a car. You never see Marines in Sag Harbor."
Next, he saw someone else step from the car, his ex-wife, Lyles, and he knew that what he had felt in his gut at seeing the TV news story had turned real.
The ceremony, presided over by Navy Secretary Donald Winter in Quantico, Va., will be attended by dozens of friends, relatives and fellow Marines.
"It's truly an honor," said Lyles. "Of course, I'd trade it all to have him back."
neil.graves@nypost.com
Top of the Document
LCpl Jordan Haerter to receive Navy Cross posthumously
The Secretary of the Navy, Donald C. Winter, is scheduled to present Navy Cross medals, posthumously, to Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter, from Sag Harbor, N.Y., and Cpl. Jonathan T. Yale, from Burkeville, Va., at a ceremony February 20 at the National Museum of the Marine Corps near Quantico, Va.
The Navy Cross is the highest medal for valor awarded by the Department of the Navy and across the armed forces is second only to the Medal of Honor. To date, 25 Navy Crosses have been awarded in the Global War on Terror.
Haerter and Yale were infantrymen assigned to the 2nd Marine Division, serving with 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, and 2nd Bn., 8th Marines, respectively, and were killed in action while deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The morning of April 22, 2008, according to Haerter and Yale’s personal award recommendations, a truck began to rapidly negotiate the obstacles leading to an entry control point in Ramadi, Iraq, where Haerter and Yale were standing post. The two Marines quickly recognized the threat a suicide bomber driving a truck capable of carrying a large quantity of explosives posed to the Marines and Iraqi policeman in the area and engaged the truck with precise fire.
As a result of their actions, the truck stopped a few feet from their positions and the suicide bomber detonated the approximately 2,000 pounds of explosives in the truck, leveling the entry control point and mortally wounding the two Marines.
“The explosion blew out all of the windows over 150 meters from where the blast hit,” said Lance Cpl. Benjamin Tupaj, a rifleman with 3rd Platoon, Weapons Company, 1st Bn., 9th Marines. “They saved all of our lives, if it wasn’t for them that gate probably wouldn’t have held. If that truck had made it into the compound, there would’ve been a lot more casualties. They saved everyone’s life here.”
Haerter and Yale’s personal award recommendations credit them with saving the lives of 50 Marines and Iraqi policemen.
On Friday, February 20, a chartered bus will travel from Sag Harbor to the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia, Quantico Marine Base where LCpl Jordan C. Haerter, USMC along with Cpl. Jonathan T. Yale will be posthumously awarded the Navy Cross with Extraordinary Heroism.
For Sag Harbor residents interested in attending the ceremony, a Hampton Jitney chartered bus, will depart from Pierson High School parking lot, 200 Jermain Ave, Sag Harbor at 2 a.m. on Friday, February 20. Additional pick-up locations will be at the “Park and Ride” Exit 49 on the Long Island Expressway, Route 110 Huntington and another stop is at Bryant Park in New York City between 40th and 42nd streets and 5th and 6th Avenues. The ceremony is at 11 a.m. in the museum’s Leatherneck Gallery. A free guided tour of the museum is available following the ceremony. The return trip will bring riders back to their boarding locations, reaching Sag Harbor at 2 a.m. on Saturday.
The Suffolk Police Veterans Association has donated the entire cost of the charter — the bus ride and museum admission is now free to all veterans and friends who would like to attend the ceremony honoring Haerter and Yale.
Those interested in making the trip should contact Jordan’s Mom, JoAnn Lyles, at 725-1788 or 996-3291. She can also be reached at sagfolks@optonline.net.
A History of the Navy Cross
The years of the “Great War” were not easy ones for the men and women in the naval service. The Herculean task of transporting and escorting the hundreds of thousands of troops of the American Expeditionary Force to Europe, the growing pains of fielding new aviation and submarine elements and the savage fighting of sailors and Marines on battlefields across France all lay at the feet of the naval service. Along with this came an increase in the size of the naval service to its largest at that time, and the task of working hand-in-hand with Allied counterparts.
New to this experience was the European custom of one nation decorating heroes of another nation. The United States, with the Medal of Honor as its sole decoration, was caught unprepared not only for this custom, but also had no appropriate award to recognize heroism of a level less than that which would merit the Medal of Honor and no decoration to reward the myriad acts of meritorious non-combat service that the war would spur.
The U.S. Army shared this dilemma and with the aid of President Woodrow Wilson and the Congress in early and mid-1918 instituted its Distinguished Service Cross and Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) with clear guidelines for the award of the Distinguished Service Cross for combat heroism and the DSM award for distinguished non-combat duty in a position of great responsibility. This pair was available in time for awarding during World War I.
Parallel awards were created a year later for the Navy and Marine Corps, months after the armistice and amid the massive demobilization of forces.
No prouder decorations exist today than the Navy Cross and the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, but their creation and early award were fraught with controversy, ambiguity and confusion.
As enacted February 4, 1919, the Navy Cross was the naval services third-highest award and could be awarded for both combat heroism and for other distinguished service. Many, for instance, were earned for extraordinary diving and salvage feats. As originally third in precedence behind the Medal or Honor and the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, more than one Navy Cross recipient regarded its award as a “snub” in lieu of the Distinguished Service Medal.
The same act established the Distinguished Service Medal. Both decorations could be awarded retroactive to April 6, 1917. It would be 23 years and a August 7, 1942 action by Congress that would place the Navy Cross just beneath the Medal of Honor, and limit its award to combat-only recognition.
The Navy Cross was designed by James Earle Fraser, a distinguished sculptor, member of the nation’s Fine Arts Commission and designer of the obverse of the Victory Medal and an early version of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. The Navy Cross’ arguable resemblance to Great Britain’s Navy Distinguished Service Cross is noteworthy, but not elaborated upon in any records. Fraser experimented with the image of a World War I-era destroyer on the medal, but finally opted for the more timeless, flowing lines of a 15th-century caraval or sailing ship.
Subtle variations have marked the evolution of the Navy Cross from 1919 to the present. One constant has been the actual medal, which has been struck from the same die and is of three-part construction: the cross itself and the front and back medallions, which are struck separately and subsequently soldered together. Current forgers almost always strike their fakes in one piece, allowing the studied eye one method of detecting frauds
The earliest issues of the Navy Cross (1919-1928) had a very narrow white stripe centered on the blue ribbon and a planchet of dull, sometimes greenish bronze. Some were awarded with the planchet reversed, the sailing ship being placed on the back and the crossed anchors and “USN” on the front. A split broach with an open-pin catch was used.
Later issues (1928-1941) had the customary 1/4-inch white stripe and a somewhat darker, gunmetal bronze finish.
One legendary variation picked up the informal nickname “Black Widow” and was in use about 1941-1942, in which the medal itself and its wrap broach were over-anodized and sported a very dark, even black finish. Ironically, many of the “Black Widow” awards were posthumous.
Midway through World War II, contracts specified the original dull bronze finish seen in the years since.
Presently, the Navy Cross is awarded to a person who distinguishes himself or herself by extraordinary heroism not justifying the award of the Medal of Honor. To warrant this distinctive decoration, the act or the execution of duty must be performed in the presence of great danger or at great personal risk.
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