Army Pfc. Jordan E. Goode

Remember Our Heroes

Army Pfc. Jordan E. Goode, 21, of Kalamazoo, Mich.

Pfc. Goode was assigned to the 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died Aug. 11, 2007 in Zormont, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device.

Roadside bomb in Afghanistan kills soldier from Kalamazoo
By Corey Williams
The Associated Press

DETROIT — Jordan Goode enjoyed doing things on the edge — whether skateboarding, snowboarding or jumping from military planes.

“He loved the thrill. That’s why he went Airborne,” his mother, Sheri Goode told The Associated Press Monday. “Once when Jordan snowboarded, he went down the end of a slope and there was no snow at the bottom. He had a concussion.”

Pfc. Jordan Goode, 21, is the latest soldier from Michigan killed in Afghanistan. He was lead driver in a five-truck convoy when a roadside bomb exploded Saturday beneath his vehicle, his mother said.

The Department of Defense said Monday that Jordan Goode was wounded in Zormont. He was assigned to the 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C.

“He was a great kid and he loved his family,” Sheri Goode said. “He believed in what he was doing and he was doing the right thing.”

He and his family spoke often through a Web cam they bought him, his mother said.

“I talked to him [last] Monday for about 15 minutes online,” Sheri Goode said. “I asked if he was ready to come home and he said, ‘Yeah.’

“He wanted to be out of his boots. Jordan said he was so tired of being in his boots.”

Jordan Goode was due to come home on leave in October and was planning to take his wife, Aubrey, to Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Sheri Goode said her son was concerned after his unit recently was moved to a new camp in Afghanistan.

“This past week, he said something to his wife that he might not come back. That was something he had never said before,” Sheri Goode said.

Jordan Goode spent two years at Kalamazoo Central High School and graduated in 2004 from New City High School. He enlisted in the Army shortly after graduating and was shipped to Afghanistan in January.

Aubrey Goode said she was introduced to her future husband by a friend while in middle school.

“The first time I saw him skateboarding, I had a crush on him,” she said.

They continued as friends for several years and became a couple as seniors in high school.

They were married nearly two years ago, when she was expecting the couple’s daughter, Amirah.

Sheri Goode said her son surprised everyone by joining the Army.

“We were trying to get him into art school. He was an absolutely phenomenal artist,” she said. “But his girlfriend was pregnant at the time. He decided to step up to the plate, do the right thing and provide for his family.”

That was typical of Jordan, said close friend Brian Gallagher.

“He was very independent — he was always sure of what he was doing,” Gallagher said. “He did everything 100 percent.”

Funeral services were pending.

Jordan Goode also is survived by his father, Tony; and brothers, Dominique and Kelsey.

Army Pfc. Jordan E. Goode was killed in action on 8/11/07.