Sad news to report as U.S. Naval Academy Midshipman from Utah has died while on leave.
Taylor Connors, a 24-year-old senior from Pleasant View, Utah died while on leave in Philadelphia.
Although circumstances surrounding his death are currently under investigation, foul play is not suspected.“Taylor Connors was the best of us. He was a true mentor and leader among his peers but I know he saw himself as a Marine infantryman first and foremost,” said Marine Corps Maj. David R. Emison II, the Naval Academy’s training officer and a mentor to Connors. “There is something to be said about an ethos like the one he exemplified.
Connors attended the Utah Military Academy and played varsity soccer and was a member of the National Honor Society and a Boy Scout, the Eye on Annapolis reported. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 2016 before receiving an appointment to the Naval Academy in June 2019. According to the report, Connors was a physics major and served as 2nd Company First Sergeant. While with the Marines, Connors was deployed to Spain and Bahrain, where he was noted for his volunteer work with a school and animal refuge.“Our Naval Academy community is mourning a tragic loss this week of a life taken far too soon – Midshipman Taylor Connors honorably served his nation as a Marine and as a midshipman,” said Vice Adm. Sean Buck, 63rd Superintendent, U.S. Naval Academy.