‘NEVER FORGOTTEN’: Exchange club to honor veteran who died at 21 with scholarship banquet – The Daily Reporter – Greenfield Indiana
Senior Airman Ashton Goodman, who died in 2009, was instrumental in advancing women’s affairs in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Province. In May that year she participated in a shura, or meeting, with the Afghan Director of Women’s Affairs and 20 local women and teenage girls. The group discussed future educational opportunities for women and girls in the valley.
By Shelley Swift | Daily Reporter
The Exchange Club of Hancock County is honoring the life and legacy of a young veteran who was just 21 when she was killed in action in 2009.
Sr. Airman Ashton Goodman was delivering food and medicine to those in need in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan when she was killed by a roadside bomb.
The father of her commanding officer recounted the story to Eddie Rivers, a member of the local exchange club, on a flight to Washington, D.C., about eight years ago.
“The dad said, ‘We’re trying to figure out how we can honor this young woman in a way we won’t forget her.’ His daughter said she was just a special young woman,” recalled Jeff Young, president of the Exchange Club of Hancock County.
Eddie Rivers, the West Point liaison for the state of Indiana, shared Goodman’s story with fellow club members, who decided to do something to honor the young veteran who sacrificed her life serving her country.
Around 2018 the club started a scholarship fund in Goodman’s name, raising funds to present an annual $1,000 scholarship to a Warren Central High School graduate studying journalism.
Goodman graduated from the eastside Indianapolis school in 2006.
About four years ago, the scholarship’s focus shifted to covering costs for Warren Central students to attend the Indiana University Summer Journalism Institute each year.
“We did that with the idea that maybe some kids couldn’t afford to go. It worked out better than we ever would have thought,” said Young, who has watched Warren Central students rack up journalism awards in recent years.
Save the date
A banquet supporting the Sr. Airman Ashton Goodman Memorial Scholarship is set for 6:30 p.m. Nov. 8 at American Legion Post 207 in Fortville.
Young said the exchange club is seeking community partners to attend and sponsor the event, which Goodman’s family plans to attend.
He also encourages supporters to take part in recurring dine-to-donate events at Dairy Queen in Cumberland.
“Your support will directly impact students while ensuring that Sr. Airman Goodman’s memory lives on through opportunities for young journalists,” Young shared.
Next month’s banquet will not only support the scholarship fund, but will celebrate Goodman’s induction into the Indiana Military Veterans Hall of Fame on the former Fort Benjamin Harrison the following day.
The exchange club nominated Goodman for induction, and included a letter from Capt. Stacie Shafran, who served as her commanding officer at the time she was killed.
Jeanne Lugo, chairman of the Indiana Military Veteran Hall of Fame, said the letter was compelling enough for the selection committee to find Goodman worthy of being inducted.
“There were so many things she had helped out with … the selection committee felt she had distinguished herself with meritorious achievement,” Lugo said.
“She was just an outstanding airman and an outstanding person. It’s nice for us to be able to recognize some of our younger veterans that may have not gotten recognition,” she said.
Goodman was previously honored in June 2024, when the communications building at the Pope Army Airfield in North Carolina, from which she was deployed, was named in her honor.
“Most of the buildings are named after generals, but this young woman was a senior airman, and they thought enough of her to name this building after her,” Young said.
Goodman was known for going above and beyond her duties, he said, and was instrumental in outreach programs supporting women in Afghan villages.
She was on her second deployment when she was killed during Operation Enduring Freedom.
“From my understanding, she was quite an airman. She was the liaison between the U.S. Air Force and women in villages in that area … She would meet with them and talk with them about different things, and would try to find solutions for problems they would have,” Young said.
By honoring her through a scholarship and induction into the Hall of Fame, “Now we have an opportunity to make sure she goes down in history as a fine soldier, representing all the great soldiers and sailors that provide our national defense,” he said.
Never forget
Honoring veterans is important to Young, who served as a medic during the Vietnam War, but did not see combat.
“From 1965 to 1973, I lost 15 friends or acquaintances (from high school) that were in Vietnam, so it stuck with me. My brother served and was highly decorated,” but died from Agent Orange, he said.
Honoring veterans is a core part of what the Exchange Club of Hancock County does, said Young, who founded the local club in 2015, after first joining the club in Lawrence 34 years ago.
In July, the local club won the Americanism award at the National Exchange Club convention, for its efforts in honoring veterans and first responders.
Each year for the Fourth of July, the club sets up a Field of Honor with 500 American flags honoring veterans.
Next year’s display will be at Indianapolis Regional Airport in Mt. Comfort.
Last November, on Veterans Day, the club honored local veterans at a fundraiser hosted by FoxGardin in Fortville, which raised money for homeless Hoosier veterans.
That same week, club members personalized name cards and lanyards for roughly 175 local veterans at the three assisted living facilities throughout the area.
Next month, the local exchange club plans to honor veterans at schools throughout Hancock County, as well as Warren Township and Lawrence Township schools.
Young said it’s important to honor veterans when they’re living, as well as after they’re gone.
Veterans and exchange club members like himself want to make sure the local community never forgets Goodman, who is buried at Washington Park East Cemetery in Indianapolis, just west of Hancock County.
“We want to do what we can to keep this woman in the forefront,” said Young, so her service and sacrifice are never forgotten.
To sponsor or attend the Sr. Airman Ashton Goodman Memorial Scholarship banquet, contact Young at 317-902-4364 or [email protected].
To learn more about the National Exchange Club, visit nationalexchangeclub.org.
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