Major Michael Taylor, First Sergeant Tom Warren, and Army Sergeant First Class John Gary Brown will be remembered by their friends and family as men who lived lives full of passion and love. Their nation will remember them as men who dedicated themselves to protect of our freedom.

Michael Taylor’s father-in-law described him as "a good guy" with a personality that attracted everyone to him since his childhood days in North Little Rock. As a National Guardsman, who worked at the Veterans Administration, he soon learned that his true passion was in flying. He had spent a lot of time working with computers, and the relationship between modern helicopters and computers gave him a leg up when it came time enter to flight school. He retired from the VA to become a pilot with the Arkansas National Guard flying Black Hawk helicopters. Taylor eventually reached the Bravo Company’s top position and commanded the company. The UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter he flew in was often called a limousine service. He and his colleagues ferried others around Iraq as part of "Task Force Dragon," and they became known as the "Catfish Air." Serving their fellow soldiers, these men risked their lives everyday to make sure people got to and from dangerous areas as safely as possible.

Tragically, on January 20, 2007, he was killed when his helicopter crashed in the area northeast of Baghdad in one of the deadliest moments of the war for our National Guard. I offer my condolences to his family, and I pray that they can find comfort in the knowledge that he died serving others and doing what he loved on behalf of a grateful nation. My thoughts and prayers go out to the many people whose lives were touched by Michael Taylor.