From a very young age, PFC David Taylor Miller loved all things military. With a father who served in the Marines, the boy known as Taylor by everyone, filled his brain with just about everything to do with weapons throughout the ages, and when he was older, moved on to perfecting similarly themed video games. So when he graduated high school without a clear picture of what he wanted to do next, looking to the military was a natural next step.
`He knew [college] would be expensive, so he looked at the military as a way to get a start on his life and do something on his own; something entirely his and something he chose to do,` said Miller’s mother Leslie Miller.
Miller said once her son joined the army he quickly developed a plan. The short-term was to lose weight. The long-term was to work toward a career in Washington DC.
`He would stay in the army for a few years and then maybe move to DC where you can parlay that experience into a meaningful career; and then college,` said Miller. `We were always after him to lose some weight, for football and because it was adventageous for life the army had all these requirements, so he started working out with the guys at the recruiting office and lost about 60 pounds by the time he went to Afghanistan.`
The young man who grew up in Virginia, only recently moving to Wilton in his sophomore year of high school, was on his way to what his family knew was a bright future. Then, on June 21, 2010, Miller said she received word that Taylor had been killed in combat overseas.
Taylor will now be the second of two local veterans to have their names added to the Saratoga County Veterans Monument at Gerald B. H. Solomon National Cemetary this Veteran’s Day. Maj. John Paul Pryor, MD, of Clifton Park, will also have his name added at the 2010 Saratoga County Veterans Monument Veterans Day Ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 11, at noon.
`It’s bittersweet to have his name added. We went out to the Statue of Liberty yesterday and you just look at your flag and your country in a whole different way. Not that you didn’t love it before, but now you’ve really paid quite the price,` said Miller. `The cost of freedom is not free and we know that everyone out there made it possible for us to be in New York City today, just hanging out and letting us lead the life that we do.`
A few days after receiving the news of Taylor’s death, Miller said she knew she had to do something to honor his legacy.
`There’s nothing we can do to bring Taylor back. The only thing we’ve got is to try to do positive things,` said Miller. `We started a scholarship fun days after we got the word.`
The David Taylor Miller Scholarship Fund is still in its infancy, with the board working to nail down its mission statement and qualifications. What’s 100 percent set in stone, though, is that the scholarship will help people reach their goals.
`We’ll find people in high schools and younger to help them reach some goal they may have. Help them realize goals that financially or physically they couldn’t do on their own,` said Miller.
Since June, the fund has raised around $7,000. It is holding a fundraiser on Veteran’s Day, Taylor’s birthday, at Scallions Restaurant in Saratoga Springs from 5 to 9 p.m. The restaurant will donate 20 percent of anything purchased from the gift shop, bar, takeout or dinner, to the scholarship fund.
`Taylor would have loved this. He would think it was great,` said Miller.
A website for the scholarship fund is in the works and anyone interested in getting involved or donating can contact Miller at 683-8425.
The Veteran’s Day ceremony is hosted by the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors and the Saratoga County Veterans Agency and will be at noon at Gerald B.H. Solomon National Cemetery, 200 Duell Road, Schuylerville
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