A Route of Surprises: A Soldier’s Story of Strength, Service, and Discovery
Author
Larry R. Jordan
ISBN
978-1-959203-19-3
Print Version
$24.99 (available September 8, 2026)
A Route of Surprises
A Route of Surprises is the memoir of an Army officer whose life took an improbable journey to the highest levels of military leadership. Growing up amid barriers and expectations that constrained African American life in the era, Larry R. Jordan would go on to serve thirty-five years in the U.S. Army, retiring as a three-star general.
His story unfolds through moments of challenge, discovery, and unexpected connection. As one of the few African American cadets at West Point in the 1960s—and later as an officer who often served as a minority—LTG Jordan navigated a profession that tested both character and resolve. Interwoven with Jordan’s journey is the revelation of a six-generation family legacy of African American military service, beginning with the Civil War. Brief vignettes, at times humorous and at times deeply moving, capture the intersections of military life, family, and mentorship.
A Route of Surprises is a reflective memoir about leadership, perseverance, and the unforeseen turns that shape a life in service.
A Route of Surprises is an official AUSA Book Program title.
Lieutenant General Larry R. Jordan, U.S. Army, retired, was born and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, in the post–World War II era, attended public school there, and later attended and graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1968.
He retired after thirty-five years of active duty, serving in such places as the Republic of Vietnam, Germany, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Bosnia, and Kosovo. His varied career included multiple operational tours in Germany, the Pentagon, and across the country. He also served three years at West Point as an assistant professor in the Department of History. Upon retirement from the Army, he worked in the defense industry for ten years. He also served as a consultant with the Defense Science Board and with the Institute for Defense Analysis.
Following a decade in industry, Jordan shifted the focus of his efforts to supporting a number of non-profit and service organizations. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of the U.S. Army and the Board of Directors of the Army Historical Foundation, and he is the Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Directors, West Point Association of Graduates. Previously, he served on the Board of Directors of Army Emergency Relief, the National Urban Fellows, and the ROCKS, a mentoring and professional development organization specializing in assisting minority officers to grow and achieve.
As a partner to the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Book Program], UNG Press will aid AUSA’s educational mission by producing high-quality books to be designated as “AUSA Books.”
These books will address such subjects as military land power and land warfare history, technology, combat, and strategy and tactics.
This curated collection will serve to help and educate members of the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense, the AUSA, U.S. government officials, and the general public.
To further these goals, AUSA will promote UNG Press’s AUSA Books by linking them to AUSA’s website, listing them in AUSA publications as a member benefit, and reviewing them in ARMY magazine or other AUSA publications.
“A Route of Surprises is an important contribution to understanding the profession of arms and the enduring values that connect generations of American Soldiers.”
— Brigadier General Burt K. Thompson, U.S. Army (Retired), President of the Army Historical Foundation
“Larry R. Jordan offers great insight to the cross currents of American society extending from the mid-years of the 20th century through the first quarter of the 21st . . . The odyssey of an African American boy, later man, overcoming institutional and social prejudices of the times, and the impact of the stark challenges of a military career on him and his family.”
— Colonel James McDonough, U.S. Army (Retired), Platoon Leader: A Memoir of Command in Combat
“A Route of Surprises is an easy read and hard to put down.”
— Lieutenant Colonel John Hedley, U.S. Army (Retired); U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Class of 1968; Saddle Up: The Story of a Red Scarf and From the Shadows: A Tribute to the 1968 West Point Graduates Who Gave Their Lives in Vietnam
