A petition on whitehouse.gov asks the president to award the nation’s highest award for valor to two fallen Marines.
Cpl. Jonathan Yale and Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter were killed in Ramadi, Iraq on April 22nd 2008.
The two were manning an entry point at a joint security station when a 20-foot tanker truck sped towards them. Iraqi policemen who were guarding the checkpoint with the Marines fled, but Yale and Haerter ran in front of the truck and began to shoot.
The driver slowed and then detonated 2,000 pounds of explosives. The two riflemen were killed in the attack, but prevented the driver from penetrating the gate. The two are credited with saving over 150 lives, according to the petition.
Yale and Haerter were awarded the Navy Cross posthumously in February 2009, according to the Military Times.
In order for petitions to be reviewed by White House officials, they receive at least 100,000 signatures within 30 days. So far, about 3,400 have signed it. The deadline in Sunday. Click here to view the petition.
