DERYK HALLAL 2019 | operation-set-sail

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2019

CEREMONY & DEDICATION FOR LOCAL FALLEN HERO

MARINE CORPS PFC DERYK HALLAL

4:00 PM: ARRIVE AT THE INDIANAPOLIS SAILING CLUB PROPERTY AT 11325 Fall Creek Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46256. FOOD AND REFRESHMENTS AVAILABLE TO ALL GUESTS.

5:00 PM to 6:00 PM: CEREMONY AND DEDICATION BEGINS

GUEST SPEAKER INCLUDES MARINE HERO CPL JIMMY GENTILE WHO FOUGHT ALONG SIDE WITH DERYK HALLAL
OTHER SPEAKERS AND DIGNITARIES TO BE ANNOUNCED
HONOR GUARD 21 GUN SALUTE
DEDICATION INCLUDES MONUMENT AND FLAG CEREMONY WITH DERYK'S NAME

6:00 PM to 7:00 PM: RECEPTION AFTER CEREMONY

Food and refreshments available to all guests

Note: Before 4:00 PM over 100 sailboats expected on Geist from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Some sailboat and pontoon boat rides can be arranged for our guests.

ABOUT PFC DERYK HALLAL

Marine Corps PFC DerYk Hallal was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, California. PFC Hallal was killed by hostile fire.

Deryk was a 1998 graduate of North Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was considered an All-American kid by nearly everyone who knew him. He loved sports, especially basketball, and enjoyed playing video games. After graduation, he attended college and then studied computer programming at Professional Careers Institute. Deryk also modeled occasionally, taking advantage of the 6 foot 5 inch frame he had used as a wide receiver in high school, but his dream was to be a sports agent. Deryk was so affected by the events of 9/11 that he quit college and signed on with the United States Marine Corps as an infantry rifleman in February 2003. He left for boot camp in May 2003 and graduated in the Honor Platoon.

Deryk deployed to Iraq in late February 2004. He told his family that he was glad to be in Iraq and wanted to give hope to Iraqis. Deryk was a big jokester who often performed impressions of Jim Carrey, Ross Perot, and George W. Bush. On April 6, 2004, the Marines were engaged by the enemy in al Anbar province, just west of Baghdad. Deryk moved as the point man for his squad as the insurgents launched a major city-wide offense. During the initial engagement, he was caught in the open, exposed and under intense enemy rocket-propelled grenade, machine gun, and small-arms fire. He returned accurate fire, immediately eliminating three insurgents and allowing the squad to position themselves for an assault against the enemy strongpoint. Ordered to clear an enemy emplacement, he courageously led the attack, moving through difficult urban terrain while constantly under intense enemy fire. Deryk received gunshots to both the right and left thigh shattering his left femur, rendering him unable to move on his own. Receiving enemy fire from 360 degrees, he continued to fire on the enemy as the other Marines attempted to move him to a covered position. He continued encouraging his squad mates and engaging the enemy as his brother Marines began to carry him into an alleyway. A fatal bullet struck him and little more could be done than to administer morphine and pray as he died in the street. Deryk received many medals in the short 11 month Marine career, one being the prestigious Bronze Star with Combat “V” for valor for his heroic actions that day.

Deryk is buried in the Field of Valor at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis. His tombstone is 3 feet high and has the following inscription on it: "Christ died for your sins, our son died for your freedom."

ABOUT JIMMY GENTILE

April 6, 2004 will be remembered by Marines of 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines for years to come. 34 Marines and one Sailor lost their lives, with many more wounded on that ill-fated day in the streets of Ramadi, Iraq; a place USA Today once labelled as “the most dangerous place on earth.” The Battle of Ramadi, chronicled as one of the fiercest battles fought in Iraq, was life changing for those who lost loved ones in this horrific battle, and for the brave heroes who made it home.

Now, 15 years later, those who survived the atrocity, while they will never forget their fallen comrades, have had to learn to move forward and lead productive lives. One such individual who survived that never to be forgotten day is Jimmy Gentile from Missouri. Jimmy enlisted in the United States Marine Corp after graduating from High School. Following boot camp, Gentile was assigned to School of Infantry (SOI), Camp Pendleton. Upon completing his infantry training from SOI, he reported to 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, Golf Company.

In 2002, with war looming on the horizon, Gentile and his 2/4 band of brothers deployed to Okinawa, Japan, anxious to put their training to the test. Finally, in February 2004, the “Magnificent Bastards” as they called themselves deployed to Combat Outpost, a military base in the heart of Ramadi to “win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people.” However, goodwill intentions were quickly dismissed with daily insurgent activities: Potshots from rooftops and rising reports of roadside bombings, IEDs, etc. However, for young Gentile, the job was exactly what he signed up for, and he was willing to give up his life to do it: "I enlisted to fight," Jimmy said "That's why I chose the Marines and the infantry."

On the morning of April 6, 2004, now Cpl Gentile was among three 10 to 13-man squads on foot patrol in a dense part of the city in Ramadi. Midway into their patrol on Easy Street, the first squad (death squad) from Golf company 2/4 were met by a hail storm of fire from automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade from nearby rooftops, doorways and alleys. In the midst of the fighting, while running to aid another Marine, Gentile felt something pop from behind him, it was a round from an AK-47 that struck just under his right ear, shattering his jaw, blowing off part of his nose and severing his carotid artery. Bleeding profusely and blinded in his right eye, Gentile managed to run 50 feet back to his squad where they were holed up for three hours before being medevacked. Gentile has undergone 44 surgeries.

In 2006, Cpl Gentile was medically retired from the United States Marine Corp. This American Hero is a living testament of the words “true grit.” In spite of all that he endured, Gentile never gave up. Following his medical retirement from the Marine Corps, Jimmy pursued his education and is a graduate from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems and a minor in Computer Science. Jimmy also earned his master’s in software engineering from the University of Kansas in the fall of 2018. Today, Jimmy works as a Sr. Software Engineer and Engineering Manager at Cerner Corporation. And, when things get rough, he pulls open his desk drawer where he keeps the bullet that nearly killed him; the bullet that was extracted from his cheek, as a reminder that “things could be worse.”

Instead of looking backwards, Jimmy focuses his energy on the important things in life. Marine Corporal Jimmy Gentile is married to his wife, Megan, and is the proud father of their four children: Tristan, Alyssa, Callie, and Kimber.