WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Oct. 9, 2011) -- John Stewart Mill, an English philosopher who lived in the 1800s, said, in part, "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse."
"This is how my son lived and he kept this quote in his wallet all the time," said Kay Taylor, mother of Maj. David Taylor, who was killed in Baghdad on Oct. 22, 2006, by an improvised explosive device while riding in a Humvee.
"We grew up in Heidelberg, Germany, where my mom was a teacher for the Department of Defense," said David's brother, John, who also became a teacher.
David, who joined the Army in 1991, liked to run and had a lot of friends in the Washington, D.C., area.
"So this is a great way to get all the friends together the weekend of the Army Ten-Miler. Over 130 of us got together in the hotel last night and I asked who went to college with David, who broke into a public pool and went skinny dipping with David … we just had a lot of fun after the pasta dinner we attended," said John, who married Martina, a German woman from south of Heidelberg.
Fifty members of the family ran the Army Ten-Miler, including Jake, David's son.
"Our son ran in the 100-meter youth run," said Michelle Taylor who married David Dec. 21, 2002. Their son was born June 2006.
"Jack said he thinks he's the fastest kindergartner there is," Michelle said beaming with pride.
"It was a damn shame how it happened," said Kay. "But he was doing what he loved and he was good at it. He knew the risks and he really felt the people of Iraq deserved to be helped. He lived with the mantra that sometimes you have to do the right thing," said Kay whose family is fourth-generation military.
He was born to be in the military she said, adding that her husband, David Sr., was a two-time Vietnam veteran. He died July 19, 2011 while looking forward to the Ten-Miler festivities.
"He was an Eagle Scout at 13 and the president of the senior class," she said.
David's mom is a mentor in the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors program and along with other liaisons is trying to establish a partnership with the British program that's similar to TAPS.
"America cares," she said.
"Americans will do whatever they can. We care about our freedom and we care about the freedom of others," Taylor said.
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