On Oct. 23, 1983, a determined suicide bomber in a Mercedes-Benz dump truck loaded with more than 10,000 pounds of explosives sped through security checkpoints and posted sentries. The truck exploded in the lobby of the Marine headquarters of the Marine Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon killing 220 Marines, 18 sailors, and 3 soldiers with 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division.

The sentries had time to respond, but because of the rules of engagement, they could not quickly react to the threat. By the time the sentries were set to fire, the truck was well on its way to its final destination.

Nearly 25 years later, the same scenario played out again but with a different ending.

On the warm, dusty morning of April 22, 2008, Lance Cpl. Jordan C. Haerter and Cpl. Jonathan T. Yale, both serving as riflemen with 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, and 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, respectively, faced imminent danger just as the sentries two and a half decades earlier had done.

Yale and Haerter stood their ground and defended Joint Security Station Nasser in Ramadi, Iraq, as a Mercedes-Benz dump truck loaded with 2,000 pounds of explosives raced toward the security checkpoint where the two were standing guard.

Haerter, armed with an M-16A2 Rifle, and Yale, with a M-249 Squad Automatic Weapon, sprayed the vehicle with bullets causing the suicide bomber to prematurely detonate the explosives only yards away from their location, but distant enough from the security station.

Haerter was killed instantly. Yale fought for his life, but later succumbed to his injures hours later.

Their heroic actions and courage saved the lives of over 50 Marines and Iraqi Policemen.

“If it weren't for those two and doing what they had to do, I know for a fact that none of us who were at JSS Nasser that morning would be alive,” said Matt Carver, a 23-year-old from Waco, Texas, and formerly a section leader with Haerter's platoon.

This ceremony was a culmination of everything that's happened and I'm very appreciative of what they did,” Xiarhos said. “The hardest thing to think about is knowing that many people will forget about all of this. I hope no one ever forgets that what they did was nothing less than heroism at it's finest.”

Carver said neither Jonathan nor Jordan were the types to seek acknowledgement or praise. But he said he knows both of them would be pleased to receive the medal and to know that their sacrifice has not been forgotten.

“They would be proud, I can guarantee that,” Carver said. “Because of the kind of Marines they