Hatak Yuka Keyu M. Yearby
Profile
Age: 21
From: Overbrook, Okla.
Assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii
Incident: Marine Lance Cpl. Hatak Yuka Keyu M. Yearby was killed May 14 while conducting combat operations in the Anbar province, Iraq. Also
Died: May 14, 2006
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Community says goodbye to a ‘warrior’, ‘hero’, ‘brother’
MARIETTA, Okla. — Hatak Yuka Keyu Martin Yearby was remembered in funeral services as a small town boy who balanced his Choctaw tribal heritage and his military life.
He did traditional American Indian dances with grace, compassion, discipline and free spirit — “the way he lived his life,” the Rev. Timm Emmons said Monday.
“He had a desire to be in the military since he was a young boy. And he believed in what he was doing. He was a warrior, and he was a hero and he finished the course.”
Yearby was killed by a roadside bomb on May 14 in the Al Anbar province of Iraq, two months after he arrived in that country.
Friends and family, fellow American Indians, teachers and classmates filed past his open casket for an hour after the funeral while a U.S. Marine Corps honor guard stood at attention.
About 1,000 people attended a...
Occupation
Incident
Prayers & Messages
till the shadows lengthen,
and the evening comes,
and the busy world is hushed,
and the fever of life is over
and our work is done.
Then in His mercy
may He give us a safe lodging,
and holy rest and peace at the last.
Amen.
My sincere heartfelt condolences to Hatak's family and friends.