Magazine honors LI Marine slain in Iraq

Early last year, a pair of U.S. Marines slain in Iraq - including Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter, of Sag Harbor - were posthumously awarded the Navy's highest award at a ceremony at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, in Quantico, Va.

The Marine Corps' only combat artist was in attendance, and the bravery demonstrated by the two at the hour of their deaths moved him.

So when the art director for the Marine Corps' in-house Marines Magazine asked the artist, Sgt. Kristopher Battles, whether the two Marines would make a good subject for the publication's new graphic novel section aimed at younger Marines and potential recruits, Battles said yes.

"Danger came quickly and they responded without hesitation," Battles said of the two Marines. "That's very inspiring, and that's what I'm trying to get across to young Marines and to American culture as well."

Haerter, 19, a 2006 graduate of Sag Harbor's Pierson High School, had been guarding the entrance of a U.S. Marine encampment in Ramadi with Cpl. Jonathan Yale, of Burkeville, Va., on April 22, 2008, when a suicide bomber driving a dump truck sped toward them. Though they halted the truck with gunfire, the driver detonated a powerful bomb, killing both of them.

Their actions are credited with saving the lives of 50 U.S. and Iraqi troops.

Battles said the cartoonlike panels - to be distributed online and on posters within the next few weeks, followed by print publication in July - will depict that last six to seven minutes of the lives of Haerter and Yale. The two men had met only moments before their deaths.

"I'm trying to convey the real heroism, not just mythical, Superman-kind of heroism, but normal people in extraordinary circumstances, where heroism comes out of them," said Battles, 41, of Fredericksburg, Va.

Haerter's father, Chris Haerter, said he thought the format would especially connect with younger readers.

"It's a great honor for Jordan that they chose to depict his heroic act," Chris Haerter said. "It's pretty powerful."

The illustrations, done in water color and gouache, depict the guard gate where the attack occurred. Haerter and Yale introduce themselves to each other, are startled by the approaching truck, then open fire and force it to swerve away. The final panels depict the medal ceremony at Quantico and feature portraits of Haerter and Yale being saluted by fellow Marines.

The graphic novel section was added to the quarterly magazine for the first time in its last edition, said the magazine's art director, Sgt. Paul Kane. He said the Marines distribute about 80,000 print copies in recruiting stations and military installations worldwide.