Today marks the 11th anniversary of Jordan Haerter and Jonathan Yale staring down a truck as it barreled toward them at a security checkpoint. They could have run. Instead they held their ground, opened fire and stopped the vehicle before it exploded. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-dec-29-na-heroes29-story.html

For their valor, the two young Marines posthumously received the Navy Cross, the nation's second-highest award for valor in combat. I think of that ceremony sometimes -- it was a significant event at the @MarineMuseum that I covered early in my time at @Marinetimes.

The officer overseeing that event was then-Maj. Gen. Robert Neller, now @CMC_MarineCorps. He was understandably concerned about how I might share the story of these Marines, and reminded me of the families involved. Good advice.

The public affairs officer at that Navy Cross ceremony was @PhilKlay -- now a popular writer whose work many of us enjoy and reflect upon.

Prominent in the story I wrote that day -- no longer on the Internet -- was the reflections of a Nicholas Xiarhos, a young Marine who credited Yale and Haerter with saving his life. He was bright and engaging, and joined by his dad, who wore his police dress blues to the event.

Xiarhos was killed in Afghanistan a few months later. Perhaps because I was so impressed with the man, my jaw dropped when I read the casualty announcement bearing his name. It was an early introduction for me about how cruel and arbitrary war can be.

https://thefallen.militarytimes.com/marine-cpl-nicholas-g-xiarhos/4207109

All these years later, it seems like a lifetime ago. And yet, still kind of yesterday.

I say all that to say this: We're going to be coping with these wars for decades to come. Remember the stories of young service members like Jonathan, Jordan and Nicholas. I'll do the same.