Army Pfc. Jordan M. Brochu

Remember Our Heroes

Army Pfc. Jordan M. Brochu, 20, of Cumberland, Maine

Pfc Brochu was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.; died Aug. 31, 2009 in Shuyene Sufia, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. Also killed were Spc. Jonathan D. Welch and Spc. Tyler R. Walshe.

Flags lowered in memory of Brochu
The Associated Press

OAKLAND, Maine — Flags in Maine are flying at half-staff Sept. 10 in honor of a soldier from the state who was killed in combat in Afghanistan. Pfc. Jordan Brochu is also being honored with a memorial service in celebration of his life.

Brochu died Aug. 31 from wounds suffered in an improvised explosive device attack. Brochu moved to Maine while he was in high school, and his parents live in Oakland, outside of Waterville.

A memorial service will be held at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Waterville. A service with military honors for family and close friends will follow at the Maine Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery in Augusta.

Gov. John Baldacci has ordered U.S. and Maine flags flown at half staff from sunrise to sunset.

Brochu was serving with an infantry battalion out of Fort Lewis, Wash.

Pfc. excelled putting shot, in the kitchen
The Associated Press

OAKLAND, Maine — A soldier from Maine who was killed in Afghanistan was remembered as an outgoing high school student who excelled as an athlete and who loved to cook.

Pfc. Jordan Brochu was killed Aug. 31 in Afghanistan, according to Gov. John Baldacci’s office.

Brochu’s family moved to Maine for his senior year in high school. His coaches at Lake Region High School, where he graduated in 2008, told the Morning Sentinel of Waterville that Brochu played football and qualified for the state track meet as a discus thrower. He also was involved in culinary arts with a fondness for baking cookies.

In one season, Brochu went from not knowing how to throw a discus to having the best form of anyone that Lake Region track coach Chip Morton had coached.

“He was very dedicated and determined to succeed,” Morton said. “It’s hard to look at so short of a life as a success, but he lived life with a passion and he was loved by those who knew him.”

Brochu had been through some tough times in his life, but he was involved in school and fit in well, principal Roger Lowell said.

“To have a kid who goes through that and gets back into school and back on track and has a good senior year isn’t all that common,” Lowell said.

Brochu, 20, was serving with Company C, 1-17th Infantry Battalion of Fort Lewis, Wash. Additional details about his death were not available.

His parents live in Oakland, but they weren’t at their rural farmhouse Tuesday afternoon.

Army Pfc. Jordan M. Brochu was killed in action on 8/31/09.