Number 106

"How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" -- Lt. John Kerry, testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, April 22, 1971.



Kentucky's 106th sacrifice to the insatiable maw of the Iraq/Afghanistan Clusterfuck is 20-year-old David Taylor of Dixon, in Western Kentucky.

From the Fayetteville Observer:

A Fort Bragg soldier from Kentucky died Thursday in Afghanistan, the Department of Defense announced Saturday.

Spc. David W. Taylor, 20, of Dixon, Ky., is one of two Fort Bragg soldiers killed in the war zone Thursday. He died in Kandahar province from injuries sustained in an accident at an ammunition supply point. The incident is under investigation.

Taylor was assigned to Company D, 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.

A news release said Taylor was assisting in the movement of ammunition when some of the rounds he and other soldiers were moving exploded.

Taylor joined the Army in March 2010 as an infantryman. This was his first deployment.

"It was evident since the day I met him that David had all the qualities desirable in a paratrooper: smart, aggressive, committed and reliable. He displayed them readily in everything he did," said Capt. Brian W. Bifulco, his company commander.

Lt. Eric Fitzgerald, at Fort Bragg, used to be Taylor's platoon leader. "He was probably one of the most outstanding paratroopers in the whole platoon, just striving to be the best," Fitzgerald said. "When you wanted something done, when you wanted it done right, you went to Taylor for it," Fitzgerald said.

He said Taylor used to do the Crossfit physical fitness program five to six days a week in order to excel at the Army's physical fitness tests.

A release says friends described Taylor as a good man who always took the time and effort to help others.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear on Saturday announced that he will order flags at all state office buildings to be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset on the day of Taylor's interment. That date was still pending on Saturday.

All U.S. troop activites in Afghanistan now amount to digging their own graves. They sure as hell aren't accomplishing anything else.