NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – A Vanderbilt University graduate student stabbed to death in Israel during a school trip was exploring what to do with his life as a civilian after graduating from West Point and serving tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Taylor Force’s father said Wednesday the 28-year-old business student was an avid skier and guitar player who loved horses and ranch life after a childhood in Texas.
Force died Tuesday during a school-sponsored trip to learn about startup companies overseas. In a letter notifying students, faculty and staff, Vanderbilt Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos called the stabbing a “horrific act of violence” but provided no details.
Stuart Force, Taylor Force’s father, said in a telephone interview his son graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 2009, following in the footsteps of his grandfather.
Force served in the Army from 2009 to 2014 and then took about a year off after active duty. He lived in Lexington, Kentucky, before moving to Nashville to attend Vanderbilt.