Sgt. Jesse Lanter...war hero lays down (risks) his life for fallen comrade:
It's a picture (AP file photo) from half a world away that touched anxious parents' hearts here in South Carolina -- and answered a prayer or two.
It's 22-year-old Marine Sgt. Jesse Lanter of Fort Mill carrying an injured fellow Marine off the battlefield Friday in southern Iraq.
"We were so worried about him," said his father, David Lanter of Fort Mill. "We had gotten some letters from him, but the battalion he was in wasn't mentioned." That made it hard to keep up with him through news accounts.
The Associated Press captured Lanter, a 1999 Fort Mill High School graduate, carrying [22 year old] injured Marine Cpl. Barry Lange of Portland, Ore., from a battlefield.
Along with British troops, the 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, captured the headquarters of two Iraqi mechanized infantry divisions in a battle Friday near the town of Az Bayer.
"He was not in the least afraid to go," said the soldier's mother, Laura Lanter of Charlotte, who talked to Lanter in January when he was deployed.
When Lanter's picture turned up in the news, his family was relieved, but not surprised. Lanter graduated boot camp at the top of his class and enlisted as a sergeant.
He played football in high school and was a real team player, Laura Lanter said. David Lanter said his son "always wanted to do for somebody else."
There are other reasons the sight of Lanter's photograph didn't surprise his dad. Fort Mill Church of God members went on a 40-day prayer and fast for Lanter and other servicemen. Before entering Iraq, Lanter phoned his dad from Kuwait to say he'd become a Christian.
The sergeant also told his dad something else. After experiencing near-constant pain, military doctors in Kuwait found a hernia in Lanter's stomach. They wanted to send him home for medical attention. Lanter refused. In addition, the Marine recently recovered from surgery on both ankles, injured in boot camp.
"When you look at that picture, you don't see Jesse straining with a hernia on ankles (that are) weak," said his father. "You don't see the pain he's going through. You see Jesse doing something for somebody else."
Posted on Sun, Mar. 23, 2003 in the The State newspaper
"Parents of S.C. Marine not surprised by son's brave act"
By RODDIE BURRIS, Staff Writer
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April 10 issue of Fort Mill Times notes..."the mother of the young man that Jesse saved, Barry Lang's mother, Brooks Ann Lang, is planning to fly in to Fort Mill. The two families struck up a friendship following their sons' heroic action on the battlefield, and it will be the first time they've met in person." [this note and the above AP photo contributed by DIANE ARMARO...WILLOWICK, OHIO who has been given Jesse as a soldier to pray for via a Victory Christian Center in Houston link to the Presidential Prayer Team website...and you could get one, too.]
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From the KATU website in Portland: "Lange, 22 and Lanter are both members of the India Co., 3rd Batt., 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division. The 1st Marine Division is an amphibious assault unit, based out of Camp Pendleton in California. When Brooks Ann was given the photo, the first thing she did was count all his arms and legs. Lange's mother has dealt with war in her family before. Her husband, Herman Lange, was a sergeant major for 33 years and served in Somalia and Desert Storm. During those military actions, Brooks Ann said she was often relied upon to dispense information to other Marine's families. Tragically, Herman Lange died the day after his son, Barry left for Kuwait. The Marines sent Barry home to attend his father's funeral, and afterward he returned to the Gulf. Barry graduated from Aloha High School in 1999." [the above photo was from the KATU site]
(posted 23 March 2003; latest update 11 April 2003)