Ft. Soldier Collapses And Dies In Iraq

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Seattle Times

December 30, 2003

Ft. Soldier Collapses And Dies In Iraq

By Ray , Seattle Times staff reporter

A second Fort soldier has died in Iraq in the space of a week, Pentagon

officials said yesterday.

Sgt. Curt E. Jordan Jr., 25, of Greenacres, Spokane County, died Sunday of

noncombat injuries near Bayji, Iraq. He was assigned to the 14th Combat Engineer

Battalion, 555th Combat Engineer Group, based at Fort . Another soldier

from that unit, Spc. Guin Haight, 23, was killed Friday when a convoy

vehicle he was riding in struck an explosive device.

The circumstances of Jordan's death were a mystery yesterday, even to his

family. His mother, of Silverdale, Kitsap County, said she was told

Jordan was on guard duty outside a hospital or aid station where injured members

of his unit had been taken after a recent attack.

" Then he just collapsed, " she said. " They said it was asphyxiation, but they

couldn't tell us what the cause of the asphyxiation was. "

Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful. The death was under

investigation, the Defense Department said.

Jordan left behind a wife, Kim Jordan, and two children, a 6-year-old daughter

and 2-year-old son, said. and Jordan's wife and children last

spoke to him on Friday via satellite video phone at Fort .

His face appeared on a fuzzy television screen as he told his children he loved

them and couldn't wait to get home, said. He was scheduled to come home

in early spring, she said.

Jordan liked to work on hot rods with his wife and her family, and he liked to

sketch from the time he was a boy, family members said. Mostly, he liked to dote

on his children.

" He was a great kid and he was a great dad, " said his father, Curt Jordan Sr.,

of the Spokane area. " He lived for his kids. I couldn't have had a better boy if

I wanted one. "

Jordan was the oldest of seven siblings, which included half- and step-brothers

and sisters.

" There were no steps or halfs for him, " Jordan Sr. said. " They all treated each

other just like brothers and sisters. "

Jordan's younger brother, Spc. Adam Jordan, was stationed near Bayji with the

4th Infantry Division when his brother died, the family said. He was on his way

home yesterday for the funeral.

Curt Jordan Jr. joined the Army in 2000, his mother said, and planned to get out

in another year. He already had his future sketched out, she said. He and his

wife had hoped to move to Post Falls, Idaho, where her family lives, and buy a

home. He hoped to work in construction and had a friend helping him line up a

job.

" He was just biding his time, " said.

Jordan was the sixth Fort soldier to die in Iraq. About 5,000 Fort

soldiers, reservists included, are in Iraq.

Funeral arrangements for Jordan are pending, his family said.