Military News: Airman killed in Afghanistan crash has local ties

One of the airmen killed in the C-130 J that crashed in Jalalabad Airfield, Afghanistan on Oct. 2 had local ties.

Six airmen, assigned to the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing were killed in the crash, according to military reports. Four were deployed from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, and two were from Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, according to military reports.

The pilot of the C130-J, Capt. Jordan B. Pierson, 28, 39th Airlift Squadron pilot of Abilene has family in Mount Pleasant.

The Department of Defense reports Pierson as being originally from Henderson and survived by his wife Jaime Pierson.

Pierson died of injuries sustained when the C-130 Hercules aircraft he was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff at Jalalabad Airfield, Afghanistan, according to military reports.

Pierson’s father Larry Pierson and step-mother Jan Pierson, and step-brothers Jason Martin and Steven Martin are among the pilot’s local family members.

Shana Martin, a sister-in-law of Jordan Pierson and the wife of Jason Martin, said the airman’s father and step-mother were notified Friday morning of the death.

Shana Martin is a teacher at Hart’s Bluff. She said the school will be honoring her brother-in-law in a ceremony honoring military service men and women and veterans this week at the HBISD campus Freedom Garden.

She said the family would be attending a memorial service at the air force base in Abilene Thursday afternoon. Ministering Our Military (M.O.M.s) will be honoring the family and the fallen soldier in a ceremony to be announced later, according to Martin.

She said her brother-in-law had been in Mount Pleasant two or three weeks ago for a visit before he left for his second deployment to Afghanistan.

“After he graduated high school, he attended the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado,” she said. “I will say he just loved what he did and I’ve said this before: I don’t think he would have traded his pilot wings for angel wings any other way.”

Pierson did not attend high school in Mount Pleasant, Martin said. She said Pierson’s mother and a sister live in Utah, and he has another sister, Emily Pierson, living in Fort Worth.

Other Dyess AFB casualties in the crash were reported as: Capt. Jonathan Golden, 33, 39th Airlift Squadron loadmaster, of Milwaukee; Staff Sgt. Ryan Hammond, 26, 39th Airlift Squadron loadmaster of Moundsville, W. Va.; and Senior Airman Quinn Johnson-Harris, 21, 39th Airlift Squadron loadmaster of Milwaukee.

The other two airmen killed in the crash were reported as Senior Airman Nathan Sartain and Airman 1st Class Kcey Ruiz, both deployed from the 66th Security Forces Squadron at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.

Other passengers on the plane reportedly included civilian contractors and Afghan nationals.

An air force wing fallen comrade ceremony held Saturday honored the airmen. Lt. Col. Mitchell Spillers, 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron commander, offered condolences and a message. Maj. Met Berisha, 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron commander, also spoke. Both men said the lost airmen loved what they did and were some of the U. S. Air Force’s finest.

Military officials report that the cause of the crash is under investigation.

Email: mdavis@tribnow.com