Jordan Christian Haerter

Jordan Christian Haerter was born on July 30th, 1988 in Southampton, New York, to proud parents, JoAnn Lyles and Christian Haerter of Sag Harbor. He was their only child. Jordan grew up in Sag Harbor loving Little League baseball, Cub Scouts and dressing up in hand-made military costumes every Halloween, making sure all the details were extremely accurate . As he grew older, his interests turned to online computer warfare games, playing with friends and world-wide team members and opponents.

Jordan learned to fl y a Cessna aircraft as a teenager at East Hampton Airport and soloed when he was just 16 years old before he could legally drive a car. A 2006 graduate of Pierson High School in Sag Harbor, Jordan entered Marine Boot Camp in September and received the prestigious qualification of Platoon High Shooter, a distinction that would soon serve him well in Iraq. Jordan earned the coveted title, United States Marine on December 1, 2006 and went in fleet with the fiercely proud 1st Battalion, 9th Marines known as the ‘Walking Dead’. 

As a Lance Corporal, Jordan Haerter left for his first deployment the day before Easter in March of 2008 and was deployed to a Joint Security Station Nasser, in the Sophia district of Ramadi, Iraq, which at one point was the center of insurgency in that city. Jordan and fellow Marine from 2/8, Corporal Jonathan T. Yale were standing guard at an Entry Control Point on the morning of April 22, 2008. All of a sudden a large tank truck aggressively accelerated towards the Entry Control Point, careening off the protective serpentine. When

the truck failed to stop, Jordan and Cpl. Yale opened fire until a 2,000 pound blast claimed their lives. Their actions that day saved the lives of over 33 Marines, Iraqi Policemen and countless Iraqi civilians. Jordan and Jonathan were posthumously presented the Navy Cross for Extraordinary Heroism, our nations’ second highest military award in a solemn ceremony held befittingly at the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

Jordan was just 19 years old and only one month into his deployment. NYS passed a bill in 2008 to honor Jordan with the renaming of the bridge in Sag Harbor to “The Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter Veterans Memorial Bridge”.