John Jourdan was born on June 12, 1942, in Centralia, Illinois. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve on February 2, 1960, and went on active duty in the U.S. Army on June 11, 1960. Pvt Jourdan completed basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, in August 1960, and then attended Advanced Individual Training as a Supply Clerk at Fort Knox, Kentucky, from August to December 1960. His first assignment was as a Supply Clerk and Truck Driver with Headquarters 3rd Medium Tank Battalion of the 37th Armor Regiment in West Germany from December 1960 to December 1962, followed by service as a Supply Specialist at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, from January 1963 to September 1964. Sgt Jourdan served as a Supply Specialist with Headquarters Eighth U.S. Army in South Korea from September 1964 to September 1965, and then attended Basic Airborne training at Fort Benning, Georgia, in September and October 1965. He then attended Special Forces Training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from October 1965 to April 1966, followed by service as a Light Weapons Infantryman with Company C and then B, 3d Special Forces Group, at Fort Bragg from April 1966 to July 1967. SSG Jourdan served as a Heavy Weapons Leader and then as a Platoon Sergeant with Company A, 5th Special Forces Group, in South Vietnam from July 1967 to March 1969. His next assignment was as a Heavy Weapons Leader with Company B, 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg from April 1969 to April 1973, and during this time he served as one of the support personnel for the planning stages of the Son Tay Raid, a clandestine mission to rescue American Prisoners of War in North Vietnam on November 21, 1970. SFC Jourdan served as a Heavy Weapons Leader with Detachment A of the Berlin Brigade with U.S. Army Europe from May 1973 to February 1975, followed by service as a Platoon Sergeant with CSC and then Company A, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment of the 3d Infantry Division at Schweinfurt, West Germany, from February 1975 to July 1976. His next assignment was as a Platoon Sergeant with Company D and then B, 1st Battalion of the 503rd Infantry Regiment at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, from September 1976 to August 1977. He left the Army on July 12, 1978. John Jourdan died on November 7, 2007, and was buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in Phoenix, Arizona.

Soldier's Creed:

I am an American Soldier.

I am a warrior and a member of a team.

I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.

I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy, the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American Soldier.