Marine from Camp Pendleton killed by roadside bomb in Afghanistan

A Marine staff sergeant from Camp Pendleton was killed in combat Friday in Helmand Province,  Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced today.

Aaron J. Taylor, 27, of Two Harbors, Minn., was assigned to Marine Wing Support Squadron 372, Marine Wing Support Group 37, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, part of the Camp Pendleton-based 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

Taylor, an explosive ordnance technician, was killed when he stepped on a buried bomb while checking a bridge for explosive devices, his father, Clifford Taylor, told Minnesota Public Radio.

Taylor had been in Afghanistan for six weeks, assigned to a province known as a Taliban stronghold. He  deployed in 2008 to Iraq. Among his citations is the Navy/Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon.

Taylor's father said he talked to his son a week before his death.

"We were really worried about him," Taylor told the MPR reporter. "He said he was going to be fine, that this unit he joined was really good, that they knew how to watch out for themselves."

Two Harbors (pop. 3,600) is located on the shore of Lake Superior, north of Duluth.

After graduating from high school in 2000, Taylor studied law enforcement and enlisted in 2002. He was initially trained as a rifleman but switched to the explosive ordnance detail.

In high school, Taylor was on the wrestling team and participated in drama and the jazz band.

"He just connected with everybody," his father said. "I think if the Taliban had met him, they'd have liked him too."

-- Tony Perry in San Diego