3 Georgia Guardsmen killed

John C. Beale of Riverdale played with toy soldiers as a child.

As an adult, he served in the U.S. Army, went to war and later joined the Georgia Army National Guard.

A military career, his parents say, was John’s goal in life.

“He was a good person,” Beale’s stepmother, Dolly Beale of Riverdale, said by phone Saturday.

Beale, 39, who held the rank of staff sergeant, was one of three Georgia National Guardsmen killed Thursday in Afghanistan.

“He was fighting for his country,” his stepmother said. “He loved what he was doing for his country.”

Also killed were Maj. Kevin M. Jenrette, 37, of Lula and Spc. Jeffrey W. Jordan, 21, of Cave Spring. The three men served with the 1st Battalion, 108th Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition Squadron of the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

They died of wounds suffered when their convoy struck a roadside bomb and came under small arms fire in northeast Afghanistan, according to the U.S. Defense Department.

They were there to train Afghan security force officers and police forces. The unit, based in Macon, had only been deployed for about three weeks.

The brigade is deploying half of its 4,500 soldiers to Afghanistan over the next few weeks.

Lt. Col. Kenneth Baldowski, the Guard’s state public affairs officer, called the deaths a blow not just to the unit, but to the entire Guard.

Jordan, who was employed by Floyd County Prison, had a wife and a 1-year-old son. He enlisted in the Guard in 2006.

Jenrette was married and had three young children. He joined the Army in 1995 and served as a Ranger instructor. He became a member of the Georgia National Guard in 2005.

Beale served with the Army from 1991 to 1994, then joined the Guard in 2005.

His parents said he was a veteran of Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the first U.S.-Iraq war. A brother served in the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989.

Beale worked for the Clayton County Water Authority, where his wife, Crystal, also works. A son and daughter also survive him.

Beale’s father, William, a former sailor, said his son was always oriented toward the service and joined the military after graduating from Riverdale High School.

“It was the only thing he ever wanted to do,” William Beale said.