Cape & Islands News

Yarmouth marine dies in Afghanistan; Yarmouth Police release a statement

Dennis-Yarmouth grad joined Marines right out of high school

The Cape Cod Times is reporting that Nicholas G. Xiarhos, a marine from Yarmouth Port has died in Afghanistan. He was the son of Yarmouth Police Lieutenant Steven Xiarhos.

Nicholas Xiarhos in a helicopter in 2008.

According to WCVB-TV, Xiarhos, 21, was killed in a road-side bombing.

Lieutenant Xiarhos recently wrote about his son's service in Afghanistan in a letter to the editor. Nicholas and a classmate, Corporal Andrew Coville, graduated from D-Y in 2006 and spent the summer at boot camp in Parris Island, South Carolina. Shortly thereafter, they were deployed to Iraq.

The lieutenant and the Yarmouth Police Department planned the Cape Cod Ride for the Fallen on the Cape Cod Rail Trail to take place tomorrow. 

In a press release Xiarhos stated that the benefit ride honored Lance Corporal Jordan C. Haerter and fellow Marine Corporal Jonathan Yale who were posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for Valor for saving the lives of 50 fellow Marines and Iraqi Police Officers during a suicide bomb attack in Ramadi, Iraq in 2008.

One of the Marines saved that day was Xiarhos' son.

The 30-mile ride begins at 9 a.m. in Dennis and ends in Wellfleet. The ride benefits the Wounded Warrior Project.

The Yarmouth Police Department released the following statement today:

Yarmouth Police Mourns the Death of U.S. Marine Cpl. Nicholas George Xiarhos, Son of Yarmouth Police Lt. Steven Xiarhos

The Yarmouth Police Department announced today that U.S. Marine Corporal Nicholas George Xiarhos died of combat wounds on July 23, 2009 while serving his country in the Garmsir District in Afghanistan. He was the son of Yarmouth Police Lt. Steven Xiarhos and his wife Lisa. He was 21 years old. He was a Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) Gunner, Squad Leader, with 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Weapons Company based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

U.S. Marine Corporal Xiarhos was fighting in Southern Afghanistan with the historic 10,000-member Marine Expeditionary Brigade ordered into action by President Obama, as part of a renewed offensive against Taliban insurgents in that country.

Nicholas George Xiarhos graduated from Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School in June 2006. He spent that summer at the U.S. Marine Corps Boot Camp at Parris Island, S.C. In September 2006, he earned the title of United States Marine. He also served in intense fighting in Anbar, Iraq.

A scholarship fund will be established in Nicholas George Xiarhos’ name by the Yarmouth Police Relief Association (YPRA). Donations may be sent to the Yarmouth Police Department, Attention: YPRA, One Brad Erickson Way, West Yarmouth, MA 02673. Donations should be labeled: Nicholas George Xiarhos Scholarship Fund.

As originally planned, a group of Yarmouth Police Officers and friends will participate in a 30-mile bicycle ride in memory of the courageous Troops with special connections to Cape Cod who have been killed in combat operations in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bicycle ride will now honor Nicholas George Xiarhos.

This special fundraising event is serving in conjunction with a similar bicycle ride occurring at the same time in Sag Harbor, New York honoring fallen U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Jordan C. Haerter. Proceeds from the event will go to the Wounded Warrior Project.

Lance Corporal Haerter and fellow Marine Corporal Jonathan Yale were posthumously given the Navy Cross for Valor for saving the lives of 50 fellow Marines and Iraqi Police Officers during a suicide bomb attack in Ramadi, Iraq. Among those who were saved was Nicholas George Xiarhos.

Information regarding funeral arrangements will be released at a later date.

Release courtesy of the Yarmouth Police Department.