LCPL Taylor Prazynski, USMC

Lance Corporal Taylor B. Prazynski, U.S. Marine Corps

KIA May 9, 2005

While at Fairfield High School, Taylor Prazynski worked with special needs students and even taught a classmate with Spina Bifida, Josh Dickson, to walk. It was with the same passion and dedication he joined the Marine Corps – to make a difference for the people of Iraq and bring peace to their part of the world.

On May 9, 2005, Lance Corporal Taylor B. Prazynski, USMC was killed while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Karmah, Iraq, while serving with the 3rd Battalion 8th Marine Regiment. He was 20. A Purple Heart recipient, LCpl Prazynski was laid to rest in Section 60 of Arlington Cemetery.

A football player who also ran track, Taylor was described by high school teammates and coaches as an “ideal team player,” which is part of the reason he sought to join the elitist of teams: the United States Marine Corps. When his father dropped him off en route to Parris Island he told Taylor he loved him, he was proud of him, and that he was his personal hero.

Today, Taylor Prazynski is a hero to many – his fellow Marines, an entire Ohio town, Josh Dickson who walked into Taylor’s funeral, and many others. Army Sergeant Santino White is serving a Mission Continues Fellowship in his honor and is keeping Taylor’s spirit of service alive by volunteering at an organization to feed people in need while preparing to go back to school.