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| News > 21-year-old Airman had 'heart of a hero' |
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21-year-old Airman had 'heart of a hero'
Posted 3/31/2013 Updated 4/1/2013
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by Tech. Sgt. Mareshah Haynes
Air Force News Service
3/31/2013 - FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. (AFNS) -- Hummingbirds are some of the smallest, most delicate, beautiful creatures in the world. They are tiny little beings, and what they lack in size, with 10 beats per second, they make up for in heart.
Senior Airman Ashton Goodman was a 21-year-old vehicle operator dispatcher from Indianapolis who was stationed a Pope Field, N.C. She was the third generation of females in her family to join the Air Force. According to those who knew her, she was a combination of strength and softness: she loved operating the large vehicles her job required of her and she loved animals -- all of them. Her boyfriend had a pet name for her: "Hummingbird."
Goodman volunteered to go to Afghanistan as a member of the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team, where she drove vehicles through the mountains to deliver humanitarian supplies to needy women. She also acted as a mentor to Afghan women to further their economic and social development. Even with all the responsibilities she had associated with her assigned mission, she still took time to pursue her dreams -- to be a writer in the public affairs office. She even had one of her stories published on the Air Force website.
"She had such a sense of urgency to do it all right now, (a trait) that's common in people of her young age," said then-Capt. Stacie Shafran, the public affairs officer who worked with Goodman during her deployment. "On May 18 (2009), she led a tremendous undertaking to deliver much-needed food and supplies to more than 100 poor women in Shutol district. I'll never forget how proud she was. As she drove us up the narrow, steep, winding road to the village, she beamed with excitement over the chance to personally help these women."
Fewer than 10 days later, less than a month before her 22nd birthday, Goodman and two of her teammates were killed by an improvised explosive device near Bagram Airfield.
Goodman's life was cut short and her dreams of becoming a veterinarian would never be realized, but the impact she had on the province will live forever through the women she mentored. Her legacy as an Airman will be sustained by the Airmen who knew her.
After Goodman's passing, Shafran wrote and posted an article online about her experiences with Goodman. In the comments section, her fellow wingmen showed an outpouring of respect and admiration for the person and the Airman Goodman was:
"SrA Goodman will always been known as my Super Troop. She always tackled duties and missions that I assigned to her head on. A fallen warrior to all, but a lost daughter to me."
- Master Sgt. Limweshe Wright
"I remember Ashton as the kid next door because she and my daughter went to school together. I saw her as my own child and had talked to her almost as such. We will miss her dearly, and I will always stand proud to have known her. I am an E4 retired US Army and, as such, I have lost another family member and I grieve for and with all who knew her. We will always be in your debt Ashton for you gave your life in service to this great nation. The spirit of a warrior never dies it just rest till it is call to service again."
- Jerry Smith
"I did not know you, but have learned that you were an extraordinary person let alone Airman. I am someone who knows the great sacrifice, and I'm a fellow 2T1 (vehicle operator) heading to Afghanistan. Let me say for all transporters, 'Rest now, Ashton. We got it from here.'"
- Gregory McCallister
Sometimes heroes don't always present themselves the way we expect them to. Ashton Goodman showed us leaders aren't always the oldest, highest ranking or most experienced members of the group. Sometimes they are the ones you least expect. But one thing all heroes have in common: they all have heart.
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| SSgt Ivory Smith, Ramstein AB Germany |
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| Thomas, CONUS |
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| Lt Col Hoopes, Fort Meade MD |
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| TSgt Hilary Reyes Military Training Instructor, Austin TX |
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| MSgt, Sheppard |
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| SMSgt. Paul Dean, IMA Reservist Miami |
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