"Past sprawling orchards, rusting automobiles and tangles of graffiti is the Yakama Nation Native American community of White Swan. It was here that Lance Cpl. Joe Jackson, surrounded by drugs, gangs and poverty, beat the odds.

At the end of a gravel road, a stone’s throw from White Swan High School is the peach two-story house where Jackson grew into adulthood. He was placed there at the age of 12 after the state deemed his mother unfit to raise him safely. A week after Easter Sunday every oak in the front yard wears a yellow ribbon and an American flag flies at half-mast on the pole Jackson helped his foster-father erect.

The next day, Jackson’s remains will arrive at the Yakima Air Terminal as veteran bikers of the Patriot Guard Riders, a cadre of first responders and a detail of local 4th Tank Battalion Marines stand by on the tarmac in his honor. The 22-year-old was killed by an improvised explosive device blast in south-central Afghanistan while patrolling with his fellow 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment Marines, April 24."

Get the Story:
The Warrior’s Song: Community welcomes, remembers Native American Marine (DVIDS 5/12)

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