LT COL Mark D. Taylor

A Bit About Mark

Mark was born in Stockton, California on November 17, 1962. He was a graduate of Lincoln High School (Stockton), 1980. San Joaquin Delta College (Stockton), A.A. with honors, 1982; community service, St. Joseph’s Medical Center. University of California, Davis, B.S., biochemistry, 1986; Theta Xi Fraternity; community service with UC Davis Medical Center and Students Against Multiple Sclerosis.

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Military Service

California Army National Guard

143rd Field Artillery, Targeting Officer and Battalion Ammunition Officer, 1984–86; Executive Officer (1st Lieutenant), 1986–87
146th Combat Support Hospital, Patient Administration Officer, 1987–90; Company Commander (Captain), 1990–92

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U.S. Army Active Duty

Upon completing his residency (2001), he was promoted to Major and assigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, as a General Surgeon at Womack Army Medical Center and with the Forward Surgical Team, 782nd Main Support Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division.

Operation Iraqi Freedom

February–May 2003 and August 2003–March 2004
He was killed on March 20, 2004, in a rocket-propelled grenade attack on his base in Fallujah. He was 41. He had earned a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel and received the promotion posthumously. In 2008, the Army dedicated Fort Bragg’s new Taylor/Sandri Medical Training Center in memory of Lt. Col. Taylor and Sgt. Matthew J. Sandri, a combat medic who died in the same attack. The center’s mission is to equip all division paratroopers, medical and non-medical, with the skills necessary to save lives on the battlefield.

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Decorations and Awards

Bronze Star (2)
Purple Heart
Meritorious Service Medal
Army Commendation Medal
Army Achievement Ribbon
National Defense Service Ribbon
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Army Service Ribbon
Combat Medical Badge
Air Assault Badge
Parachutist Badge
German Parachute Wings

He was awarded an Army ROTC Military Scholarship and an Army Health Professions Scholarship, as well as research fellowships and a Gold Scalpel Award for Excellence in Teaching. At the time of his death, he was days away from returning to the States, where he had been awarded a fellowship in Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery.

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Military Education

Army ROTC, UC Davis, Distinguished Military Graduate, commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant upon graduation.
ROTC Basic Training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, 1982.
ROTC Advanced Training at Fort Lewis, Washington, 1983.
Air Assault School at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, 1983.
Field Artillery Officer Basic Course at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, 1986
UC San Francisco, Pharm.D. (clinical pharmacy), 1991; community service, Senior Wellness Week and Drug Abuse Awareness.
George Washington University (Washington, D.C.), M.D. and M.P.H., 1996
Internship in general surgery, Madigan Army Medical Center, Fort Lewis, Washington, 1996–97.
Residency in general surgery, UC Irvine Medical Center, 1997–2001 (Resident of the Year).
Member, American College of Surgeons.

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•••

‘I can’t think of a finer thing that I’d rather be doing than taking care of our soldiers.’
— Mark Taylor, Army surgeon in Iraq, in a letter to his parents