The 11th Order

Every time I hear the word Ramadi...I feel a bit nostalgic. I sit back and reflect on the time spent over there in what seems like an entire lifetime ago. Sometimes I still can't quite believe everything that happened actually happened. It is so surreal that I sit back and almost accuse myself of Stolen Valor, but then I get to looking at the pictures and there I am. So you all can imagine my joy when I heard that two Marines who made their last stand in that city will be honored in a 23-minute short film, "The 11th Order".Cpl. Jonathan Yale and Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter walked the same dirt, fought the same insurgents, dealt with the same apathetic population who couldn't care less who won, they just wanted the fighting to stop so they could get on with their lives, as I did. Ramadi...many of you know the tale. Facebook and social media have actually done us all a favor by spreading the story of these two men, these two brothers, far and wide.For those of you in the minority and not "in the know" Cpl Yale and Lcpl. Haerter leaned in and dealt devastating, accurate rifle fire to a suicide vehicle-borne IED (SVBIED). The result/ They died, but in their sacrifice, they saved the lives of many times their meager number of two. For their actions, they were bost posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.Now a film will be made in their honor. A short film of only 23 minutes...23 minutes....that's 230 times more seconds than they had to decide what to do. I haven't seen the movie, but given the director is a Marine and got permission from the mothers of both young men...I'm optimistically hopeful that it will be good. If you get the chance, please see "The 11th Order" on May 20th, 2019.As General James Kelly stated:"Yale and Haerter never hesitated. By all reports and by the recording, they never stepped back. They never even shifted their weight. With their feet spread shoulder-width apart, they leaned into the danger, firing as fast as they could."When people ask me about my Marine Corps, what makes it so special...I tell them the story of Corporal Jonathan Yale and Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter.