I Got The News Today (IGTNT) is one of the oldest continuous series on Daily Kos. It is a way for our community to pay respect to those who have died as a result of war.
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Tonight we mourn the death of Corporal Jordan L. Spears, a young man who was much loved by his family and in his hometown in Indiana.
Corporal Jordan L. Spears
Jordan Spears grew up in a large family, in a tiny town called Memphis, in Indiana. He attended Silver Creek High School in nearby Sellersburg, Indiana. Jordan had wanted to be in the military since he was a small boy, and joined the Marine Corps before graduation.
After enlisting in October of 2010, Jordan was trained and went on his first deployment. He was sent to the Persian Gulf. Spears was with the Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron-163, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Air Station, which is based in California.
Spears was supporting operations with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit as part of the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group on the USS Makin Island, which is an amphibious assault ship. The ship is based at San Diego, but is currently deployed to the U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility where it is supporting operations in a region that includes Iraq and Syria.
Corporal Spears was part of the flight crew of a MV-22 Osprey helicopter during a training exercise that took place on October 1st in the North Arabian Gulf. The V-22 takes off and lands vertically like a helicopter but the twin rotors at the end of its wings tilt after takeoff and allow it to fly like an airplane.
V-22 Osprey helicopter
The aircraft lost power immediately after take-off from the deck of the USS Makin Island. When it hit the surface of the water briefly, Spears and another flight-crew member bailed out into the waters of the gulf.
The pilot eventually gained control of the Osprey and landed it safely back onto the ship. One Marine was rescued from the waters, but Spears was never found, despite an extensive search. Corporal Jordan Spears was declared, by the Navy, as lost at sea. In a video clip of the report about Jordan's death seen on
WLKY News, his mother states:
"We strongly believe despite of the grief that God is, um, God is at work and if He took Jordan home, He wanted him home. He wanted him home and there's no one to blame and we can only accept that and hope that we can be strong with that as we go along."
Later, in the online article accompanying the video, Jordan's mother states:
Search crews rescued one crew member but never found Jordan Spears. His mother, Cosette Spears said she's proud of her son and his siblings.
“I am just as proud of my other five children because they have to go on without him and his twin is going to miss him terribly and they all will. We all will,” said Cosette Spears. "Nobody likes war but this opponent, this evil is against us, and not just the United States.
The 21-year-old Spears, was initially classified as a “non-global war on terrorism” casualty, and so his death was not announced in a news release by the US Department of Defense. The DOD reexamined the incident after the naming of military mission as "Operation Inherent Resolve." The Marine was then declared to be the first US casualty in those operations against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Personal and service awards presented to Marine Corporal Jordan L. Spears include the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
A story on
WDRB.com quotes one of Jordan's cousins:
Spears was two weeks shy of his fourth year with the Marines. This was his first deployment.
“Deployment is what he desired and he died in service to his country,” recalled Smith.
Spears leaves behind a large and very close-knit family. He was one of 19 grandchildren and had five siblings including a twin brother.
“We miss him, already of course. And we will miss him everyday forever.”
A memorial for Corporal Jordan L. Spears was held onboard the USS Makin Island, and he was honored during a full military service on October 8th with his family in his hometown in Indiana.
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About the IGTNT series:
”I Got the News Today” is a diary series intended to honor, respect, and remember the fallen, and to remind us that each casualty has family and friends who received the terrible news that their loved one has died. US service members whose names have been released by the US Department of Defense will usually be diarized two days after the official announcement on the DoD website. This allows the IGTNT team to cover each person more fully, but still in a timely manner. Click the IGTNT tag below to see previous diaries in the series, which was begun by i dunno, and is maintained by i dunno, Sandy on Signal, Monkeybiz, Noweasels, Blue Jersey Mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, SisTwo, Spam Nunn, True Blue Majority, CalNM, Wide Awake in Kentucky, maggiejean, Jax Dem, The Fat Lady Sings, Ekaterin, & Joy of Fishes. These diaries are heartbreaking to write, but show our community’s respect for those who have died.
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Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members mentioned here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.