Vanderbilt student Taylor Force 'made people better'

After tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Taylor Allen Force came to Nashville with an eye toward the future.

The U.S. Army veteran enrolled at Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management in 2015 to earn his MBA. A family member and a close friend told The Tennessean that Force hoped the education would offer an opportunity to put the discipline he had honed in the military and as an Eagle Scout to work in a new setting.

Maybe he would help out with the family business, or maybe he would work with veterans like himself who were making the transition to civilian life. Whatever steps he took, people close to him agreed, success was within the 28-year-old's reach.

But on Tuesday, during a school trip to Israel with his Vanderbilt classmates, a flurry of unexpected violence cut that bright future short.

Force was stabbed to death during a series of attacks that also injured a dozen Israeli civilians and police officers throughout Tel Aviv. Authorities in Israel said the attacks were carried out by Palestinians, and a number of high-ranking officials in the U.S. have condemned the violence as terrorism.

The attacker who killed Force was shot and killed in the day’s rash of violence, as were three other Palestinian assailants. It was the latest in a wave of near-daily Palestinian assaults on Israeli civilians and security forces that erupted in mid-September.

Vanderbilt student Taylor Force killed during Israel trip

The sudden loss shook Force's friends, family and classmates. Reached by telephone Wednesday, Barrett Caldwell, a close friend who helped Force move into his Midtown apartment last year, said he sat in a parking lot and sobbed soon after hearing the news.

Force “was there for everyone and made a contribution to the betterment of those around him," Caldwell said. “That’s the memory I had of him.

"He made people better.”

An Army man

Before moving to Nashville, much of Force's life revolved around his commitment to the Army.

Force grew up in Lubbock, Texas, but went to a military high school in New Mexico. He went on to college at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, following in the footsteps of his paternal grandfather, his cousin Jamie Southwick said.

After Force graduated in 2009 with a degree in engineering management, he went on to achieve the rank of captain. He served in Iraq from September 2010 to August 2011 and in Afghanistan from October 2012 to July 2013, according to the military.

“It was never about him. He pulled back from that idea of being braggadocio or beating his chest," Caldwell said. “You go into that knowing that you’re going to be called to lead and called to serve."

When he was ready to step further into civilian life, Force decided to use the G.I. Bill to get an advanced degree. Caldwell, who lived in Nashville at the time, said Force was leaning toward going to the University of Texas at Austin, but their conversations ultimately helped him change his mind.

“At the end of the day he chose Nashville for the same reason I think a lot of us do," Caldwell said. “He saw that vibrancy of life."

'Served and loved others'

Force's deep Texas drawl and cowboy boots helped him fit in while in Music City. He loved listening to country and bluegrass music, and Caldwell and Southwick said Force liked taking advantage of the live music venues a few minutes away from his apartment.

He lived in Lexington, Ky., before moving to Middle Tennessee and made regular trips back to visit "Quick Dash Flash," a racehorse he bought after leaving the Army.

Stuart Force, Taylor Force's father, told the Associated Press that his son had been making friends and having a great time at Vanderbilt, and he was very excited about the trip to Israel.

"He just wanted to further his education and explore more of the civilian side of life," Stuart Force said.

Taylor Force and 28 other Vanderbilt graduate students went to Israel with professors and staff as part of an elective course that focused on global entrepreneurship. They had traveled to Israel because of its abundance of flourishing startup companies. No one else on the trip was hurt, and all of them were back in the United States Wednesday.

It made sense that Force would have chosen a class that involved international travel, Caldwell said. Force had traveled extensively through Europe after leaving the military, and Force and his cousin backpacked with Caldwell in Ireland.

M. Eric Johnson, the dean of the Vanderbilt management school, said Force was a student leader who commanded attention in classes not because he spoke often, but because he chose his words carefully.

“One of our taglines is leadership without egos, and Taylor was a model for that," Johnson said.

Johnson said that he and many professors thought Force was “exactly the son we would like to have."

Force's passion for service shone through even at Vanderbilt, according to Caldwell, who remembers joining Force and his classmates at a Midtown bar.

He said Force noticed a classmate who was standing off to the side, not talking to anyone. Force made a beeline to the student, bought him a drink and struck up a conversation.

“He served and loved others,” Caldwell said. “That was Taylor.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Reach Adam Tamburin at 615-726-5986 and on Twitter @tamburintweets.