MISSISSIPPI NATIVE KILLED IN IRAQ
"A Starkville native was one of five U.S. soldiers killed in a suicide bombing in Iraq on Monday.
Spc. Taylor McDavid, 29, a tank operator with the Army's 1-64th Armored Division, 3rd Infantry, died when a suicide bomber detonated explosives in a Sunni Mansour neighborhood in Baghdad. Three other American soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter were injured in the blast in addition to those who died, according to media reports from Baghdad.
Taylor McDavid and the other soldiers had just gotten out of a humvee to begin a foot patrol in the neighborhood when the bombing occurred, said his father, Robert McDavid, who was notified of his son's death early Monday evening.
The bomber was about 30 feet away from the soldiers when he detonated his explosives, a Baghdad police officer who witnessed the attack told reporters.
Taylor McDavid had been deployed to Iraq for 10 months and was due to return to the U.S. in July, his father said. His son was in the middle of a five-year Army enlistment, Robert McDavid said.
"He did what he wanted to do, and that's serve his country," said Robert McDavid Monday night. "He made me and his granddaddy so proud."
Taylor's wife, the former Tiffany Thornhill of Starkville, is in Fort Stewart, Ga., where her husband's unit is headquartered. Taylor and Tiffany McDavid were to celebrate their second wedding anniversary May 19 and her 30th birthday two weeks earlier.
"He was a terrific soldier, and he died doing what he loved, defending our freedom," said Tiffany McDavid by telephone from Fort Stewart Monday night.
The son of Robert and Jean Alice McDavid of Starkville, Taylor McDavid attended both Starkville High School and Starkville Academy and had received an associate's degree from Northeast Mississippi Community College, where he was a member of the band and a Dean's List scholar.
He had been a student studying accounting and general business administration at Mississippi State University, where he played tuba in the Famous Maroon Band.
He was a third generation past master of the Abert Lodge No. 89, a fourth generation Master Mason, a Shriner and a member of the Corinth Scottish Rite.
In addition to his wife and parents, Taylor McDavid had a sister, Leslie, and two nieces, Elizabeth and Ellen, he "loved very much," his father said. His grandparents were the late Judge R.L. and Annie Mae McDavid and the late Charles Lee and Billie Jean Walker.
Because of the number of deaths involved in Monday's suicide bombings, the Army informed the McDavid family that it may take several days before Taylor McDavid's body is returned to the U.S.
Funeral arrangements for Taylor McDavid will be announced once they become available."
Spc. Taylor McDavid, 29, a tank operator with the Army's 1-64th Armored Division, 3rd Infantry, died when a suicide bomber detonated explosives in a Sunni Mansour neighborhood in Baghdad. Three other American soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter were injured in the blast in addition to those who died, according to media reports from Baghdad.
Taylor McDavid and the other soldiers had just gotten out of a humvee to begin a foot patrol in the neighborhood when the bombing occurred, said his father, Robert McDavid, who was notified of his son's death early Monday evening.
The bomber was about 30 feet away from the soldiers when he detonated his explosives, a Baghdad police officer who witnessed the attack told reporters.
Taylor McDavid had been deployed to Iraq for 10 months and was due to return to the U.S. in July, his father said. His son was in the middle of a five-year Army enlistment, Robert McDavid said.
"He did what he wanted to do, and that's serve his country," said Robert McDavid Monday night. "He made me and his granddaddy so proud."
Taylor's wife, the former Tiffany Thornhill of Starkville, is in Fort Stewart, Ga., where her husband's unit is headquartered. Taylor and Tiffany McDavid were to celebrate their second wedding anniversary May 19 and her 30th birthday two weeks earlier.
"He was a terrific soldier, and he died doing what he loved, defending our freedom," said Tiffany McDavid by telephone from Fort Stewart Monday night.
The son of Robert and Jean Alice McDavid of Starkville, Taylor McDavid attended both Starkville High School and Starkville Academy and had received an associate's degree from Northeast Mississippi Community College, where he was a member of the band and a Dean's List scholar.
He had been a student studying accounting and general business administration at Mississippi State University, where he played tuba in the Famous Maroon Band.
He was a third generation past master of the Abert Lodge No. 89, a fourth generation Master Mason, a Shriner and a member of the Corinth Scottish Rite.
In addition to his wife and parents, Taylor McDavid had a sister, Leslie, and two nieces, Elizabeth and Ellen, he "loved very much," his father said. His grandparents were the late Judge R.L. and Annie Mae McDavid and the late Charles Lee and Billie Jean Walker.
Because of the number of deaths involved in Monday's suicide bombings, the Army informed the McDavid family that it may take several days before Taylor McDavid's body is returned to the U.S.
Funeral arrangements for Taylor McDavid will be announced once they become available."
2 comments:
Taylor was my best friend's husband. The was just seems so unfair sometimes. Thanks to all the soldiers for their sacrifices!
sorry for your lost old friend.Have not seen you in years tiff. All our prays are with you. stephen
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