By Staff
Taylor was a graduate of Northside High
By DAN PARSONS
Staff Writer
Army Spc. Joel Taylor, a Beaufort County native and graduate of Northside High School, was killed in Iraq on Tuesday.
Taylor, 20, was assigned to the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment based at Fort Hood, Texas, according to Taylor’s older brother, Spc. John Scott Taylor with the 82nd Airborne Division. The younger Taylor joined the Army after graduating from high school. He had been in the service for about two years, according to his brother.
Taylor was the son of Scottie Taylor, a captain with the Washington Fire-Rescue-EMS-Inspections Department, and Karen Newman.
American flags at Washington’s Veterans Park and at the city’s Municipal Building and fire stations were lowered to half staff Wednesday in memory of Taylor.
Taylor is the third Beaufort County native to lose his life in the Iraq war since 2005.
Kevin Jones, 21, an Army sergeant and Washington native, was killed by a roadside bomb Sept. 22, 2005, near Al Taqaddum, Iraq. Marine Lance Cpl. Jonathan Kirk, 25, of Belhaven died May 1, 2007, of wounds received during combat operations April 23 of that year.
A fourth Beaufort County native, Jeremy Goodman of Washington, still suffers from wounds received Sept. 15, 2005, from a roadside bomb that exploded near his truck in Iraq.
Taylor and Kirk were alumni of Northside High School, where each participated in the school’s ROTC program.
The Taylor family was notified Wednesday morning of Taylor’s death, but family members declined to elaborate on the incident that claimed his life.
The only reported American casualties suffered Tuesday occurred around 10:45 p.m. when a roadside bomb detonated in Ninehveh province, north of Baghdad, according to The Associated Press.
Three American soldiers and an interpreter were killed in the explosion, according to the AP. A statement regarding the incident released by the U.S. military Wednesday did not include the names of those killed, according to the AP.