Congressman Bishop to Push Medal of Honor for Jordan Haerter
Congressman Tim Bishop is introducing a bill to ask President Barack Obama to review the eligibility of Sag Harbor’s late Marine Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter for the Congressional Medal of Honor, the U.S. military’s highest honor.
The bill also includes Corporal Jonathan Yale, Haerter’s fellow Marine who was also killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom while defending a checkpoint in Ramadi from a suicide bomber.
On April 22, 2008, 19-year-old Haerter made a split-second decision to put the lives of dozens of others before his own. As a suicide bomber driving a truck loaded with explosives careened toward his position, and the Iraqis around him fled, Haerter and Yale chose not to run and instead opened fire, killing the driver and stopping his truck from exploding inside Joint Security Station Nasser, where many more would have been killed. Unfortunately, the truck halted just short of Haerter and Yale, and they could not escape the blast.
Bishop will formerly announce the bill during a press conference Sunday in Sag Harbor joined by Haerter’s family and others who have supported Haerter receiving the Medal of Honor.
The event will be March 16 at 10:30 a.m. at the Sag Harbor American Legion.