Nathan Goodiron, a member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation of North Dakota who was killed in Afghanistan, returned home to the Fort Berthold Reservation on Thursday.

Goodiron, 25, was killed in a firefight on Thanksgiving Day. His body came on the same flight with his cousin, Claude "C.J." O�Berry, who was injured in the attack.

Family, friends, tribal members and veterans from Fort Berthold and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa met the casket at the Minot International Airport. "We�ll be with him until the end," Delores Sand, president of the Little Shell Ladies Auxiliary 300 of New Town, told The Minot Daily News.

The tribe held a memorial service for Goodiron on Wednesday. A wake is being held today. The funeral is Saturday.

Get the Story:
Soldier returns home (The Minot Daily News 12/1)
North Dakota National Guard soldier killed (AP 12/1)
pwpwd
Memorial Service Held for Goodiron (KXMCTV 11/29)

Related Stories:
Memorial service for Fort Berthold soldier (11/29)
Fort Berthold soldier killed in Afghanistan (11/27)
Canadian Native man dies while serving U.S. (11/27)
Navajo community welcomes return of two soldiers (11/10)
Yakama Nation soldier killed in ambush in Iraq (11/9)
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign (11/8)
Navajo soldiers honored after tours of duty in Iraq (10/17)
Assiniboine woman honored before return to Iraq (09/01)
Alaska Native who was headed to Iraq laid to rest (08/03)
Native soldier from Michigan killed on duty in Iraq (7/27)
Alaska Native troops called up for service in Iraq (06/07)
Choctaw Marine from Oklahoma killed in Iraq (05/17)
Crow Tribe welcomes warrior home from Iraq (04/12)
Family, friends gather in honor of Navajo soldier (01/25)
Navajo soldier killed in Iraq during second tour (1/24)
Crow Tribe honors soldier on leave from Iraq (12/16)
Donations sought for soldier wounded in Iraq (12/12)
Kiowa/Comanche soldier killed in Iraq laid to rest (11/29)
U.S. military casualties in Iraq reach 2,000 (10/26)
Navajo soldier killed in Iraq laid to rest in New Mexico (10/14)
Tohono O'odham Nation soldier killed in Iraq (08/16)
Navajo soldier who was killed in Iraq is laid to rest (07/18)
Navajo Marine killed while serving in Afghanistan (7/11)
Another Navajo soldier killed while serving in Iraq (7/7)
Piestewa honored two years after death in Iraq (03/24)
Leech Lake Ojibwe soldier killed in Iraq laid to rest (01/19)
Leech Lake Ojibwe soldier killed by bomb in Iraq (1/12)
Memorial held for Lakota soldier killed in Iraq (11/22)
Memorial, tournament set for slain Lakota soldier (11/08)
Another Navajo tribal member killed serving in Iraq (09/09)
Slain Navajo soldier enlisted to receive education (08/10)
Second Navajo soldier dies while serving in Iraq (8/6)
Slain Navajo soldier recalled as quiet and strong (04/09)
Lakota soldier who died in Iraq remembered (11/25)
Fund created for Lakota soldier killed in Iraq (11/24)
Lakota soldier dies in Black Hawk crash in Iraq (11/18)
Nephew of Navajo vice president killed in Iraq (4/8)
Army report describes attack on Piestewa's unit (07/10)
DoD confirms Piestewa killed in action in Iraq (4/7)
Indian Country mourns loss of Native soldier (4/7)
Hopi Woman Confirmed Dead (4/5)
Readers react to Piestewa tragedy (4/5)
Ariz. soldier reported missing (3/25)