Community Corner

Candlelight Vigil Honors Fallen Marine

Many gathered Saturday night to share memories of Lance Cpl. William Taylor Wild IV. "He will always be that little boy ....," a neighbor said.

The park in the Whitehurst community was filled with light on a chilly Saturday night as friends, family and neighbors gathered to honor Lance Cpl. William Taylor Wild IV.

The candlelight vigil punctuated by fireworks Wild favored was orchestrated by two of Taylor’s former wrestling teammates, Pete Frost and Bobby Ross, but they weren’t expecting the huge crowd.

One by one, neighbors and friends walked up to the center of the vigil where flags and a “T” illuminated by candles stood—each one sharing a memory.

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Wild, 21, a Severna Park High School graduate, was among seven Marines killed during a training exercise March 18 in Nevada.

He died in a training event at Hawthorne Army Depot when a mortar round exploded inside an artillery tube, according to his obituary

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Claudette Seniz, who used to carpool with the Wild family, told a story at the vigil of Taylor running out to the car on a snowy day.

“He was running to the car and fell and slid right under my car,” she said. “Once he joined the Marines I’d see pictures of this man with guns but no, to me, he will always be that little boy under my car.”

Chris Calcaterra said he used to babysit Taylor and his brother Griffin. He said as soon as Betz and Bill Wild left the house “it was on, and the Nerf guns came out.”

Calcaterra laughed and held back tears as he remembered fond memories of roughhousing with the Wild boys.

Many of those in attendance talked about the kind of man Taylor was. They spoke of how much he loved his siblings, how he was constantly willing to help others and always had a smile on his face. These characteristics were largely attributed to Betz and Bill Wild’s parenting.

“Thank you for bringing up such an incredible boy,” said Therese Hoffer.

Nearly every person mentioned Taylor’s smile. Some mentioned a photo of him and other Marines in which he was the only one smiling. No matter what he was doing—sliding under a car, swimming in the pool, helping to move boxes—Taylor seemed to do it with that smile.

“Everyone keeps mentioning Taylor’s smile, and it’s the easiest thing in the world to do,” said Betz. “See how many people his smile touched? Please smile at people.”

When Betz told her daughter, 9-year-old Libby, that there was going to be a candlelight vigil, Libby asked if Betz meant Roman candle fireworks—a favorite in the Wild house. Betz said she thought, "Why not?"

So once everyone was finished sharing memories, they sent a few Roman candle fireworks skyward toward Taylor, Betz said. And the second the last one went off—a wind came and blew out the candles that formed the “T” in the middle of the yard.

“It was like Taylor saying, ‘Thank you,’” Betz said.

As the vigil ended and mourners began departing for their homes, the words of Wild's best friend, Christopher Boan, seemed to resonate.

“When he told me his decision to join the Marines, all I could think was, ‘Thank God for people like Taylor,'” Boan said. “I can only hope to be half the man he was.”

Many in the crowd wiped tears from their eyes and appeared to silently bid farewell as they walked away.


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