Richard Jordan
Staff Sergeant, United States Army
June 5, 1980 – March 16, 2010
Age – 29
Harrison Township, MI
Operation Iraqi Freedom
1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, TX
Died of injuries sustained during a non-hostile vehicle roll-over in Mosul, Iraq
Staff Sgt. Richard J. Jordan, 29, of Tyler, Texas, died March 16 in Mosul, Iraq, of injuries sustained during a vehicle roll-over. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas.
A 29-year-old Fort Bliss, Texas, soldier with ties to Michigan is dead after a vehicle rollover while serving in Iraq.
The Defense Department says Staff Sgt. Richard J. Jordan died March 16 of his injuries from the crash. The agency said he was from Tyler, Texas, but the Detroit News reported March 19 that he was from Harrison Township.
Richard Jordan always seemed to be putting his dimples to work, generating smiles wherever he went.
He loved playing jokes, and when he was the target of one, he rarely let it go without revenge, said Carin Poole, his sister-in-law.
“If he was around, you were going to have a good time,” she said.
He graduated in 1998 from Antioch Community High School in northeastern Illinois, where he played football as a defensive back and later returned as a volunteer assistant coach. He was a fan of sports, especially basketball.
The Ohio native joined the Army in 2003 and worked as a Detroit-area recruiter before moving to the infantry.
Jordan “felt like he had to do his part,” Poole said.
“He loved to help out people,” he said. “Even when he was in Iraq, he would be on Facebook and people would be encouraging him, but he would be doing more encouraging than them.”