Army Sgt. Curt E. Jordan Jr.

Died December 28, 2003 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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25, of Greenacres, Wash.; assigned to the 14th Combat Engineer Battalion (Corps) (Wheeled), 555th Combat Engineer Group, based in Fort Lewis, Wash.; died of non-combat injuries on Dec. 28 near Bayji, Iraq.

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Sergeant from suburban Spokane dies in Iraq

Associated Press

SPOKANE, Wash. — An Army sergeant from suburban Spokane has died of non-combat injuries in Iraq, the Department of Defense says.

Sgt. Curt E. Jordan, Jr., 25, of Greenacres, died near Bayji, Iraq.

Jordan was involved in a minesweeping operation and fumes from a chemical he encountered apparently triggered a lethal reaction, perhaps from allergies, according to his stepmother, Tina Jordan.

The family does not know the details, Jordan said in a telephone interview.

Jordan was assigned to the 14th Combat Engineer Battalion, 555th Combat Engineer Group, based at Fort Lewis, Wash. He was the second soldier from the battalion to die in three days.

He was married and had a 6-year-old daughter and 1"-year-old son, Tina Jordan said. The family lived at Fort Lewis

Fort Lewis officials did not immediately return telephone messages for comment on the death.

Jordan graduated from an alternative high school in the Spokane Valley and entered the Army a few years later. He had been in Iraq since March, Tina Jordan said.

He was scheduled to return home in February.

“He loved working on old cars, always Dodges,” his stepmother said. “He was a really, really nice kid.”

Plans were underway to send his body to Fort Lewis. A memorial service was planned in the Spokane area, she said.

Two days before Jordan died, Army Spc. Charles G. Haight was killed when his vehicle struck an explosive. Haight, 23, of Jacksonville, Ala., was also assigned to the 14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Engineer Group at Fort Lewis.

The battalion specializes in demolitions, breaching obstacles and setting and clearing minefields.