Staff Sergeant George Lindley “Quint” Taber V was born on May 15, 1992, in Beaufort, South Carolina. He graduated from Conway High School in Conway, Arkansas, in 2010 and in May 2014 earned a bachelor of science degree in biology, with a minor in chemistry, from Hendrix College in Conway. During college he spent his summers as first mate on a charter fishing boat out of Ninilchik, Alaska, and afterward worked as a kayak eco-tour guide in Marineland, Florida. He surfed anywhere he could find a wave, thrived on extreme mountain hunts in Alaska and was an exceptionally gifted writer and artist. His sense of humor was dry, vivid and contagious.
Quint could have pursued medicine in a hospital. Instead he chose to combine his passion for medicine with his love of adventure and purpose, and he entered the Army in March 2017. He graduated from the Special Forces Qualification Course in 2018 and continued through the pipeline, completing 18D Special Forces Medical Sergeant training, the Military Free Fall Parachutist Course, Spanish language training, the Special Forces Sniper Course and SERE. He was assigned to Operational Detachment Alpha 7214, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. As the new man on his team, the quiet, unassuming medic broke the team’s ruck record up Monserrate in Colombia. “We’d hate him if we didn’t love him so much,” a teammate said.
His awards and decorations include the Army Achievement Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, the Army Service Ribbon, the Military Free Fall Parachutist Badge, the Parachutist Badge and the Special Forces Tab.
Always volunteering for the hardest challenges, Quint was attending the U.S. Army Ranger School to hone his leadership skills. On August 9, 2022, during the mountain phase near Dahlonega, Georgia, his class was waiting out a thunderstorm on Yonah Mountain when a tree fell on the group. Quint and Second Lieutenant Evan Fitzgibbon were killed and three other soldiers were injured. He was 30. He was laid to rest with full military honors at Jacksonville National Cemetery in Florida.
His family wrote that Quint was without a doubt living out his purpose and had found his brotherhood in Special Forces, serving his team and his country among men who shared his drive, loyalty and standards. “These things are the highest accomplishments of a man, whether he be 80 or 30,” they wrote. “Quint was truly the ‘Man in the Arena.’” He was so well loved that he counted eleven grandparents.
Quint is survived by his mother, Melynda, and stepfather, Trey Coker; his father, George “Tab” Taber IV, and stepmother, LaNell Taber; his sister, Kiplin; and his stepbrothers, Geoffrey, Grant and Wesley Fielder.
Sources
- Anchorage Daily News: Obituary for George Taber V
- Stars and Stripes: 2 Army Ranger candidates killed in Georgia by falling tree
- Hendrix College: Class of 2014 graduates
- Family-provided records on file with MVF: Quint Taber bio and 2026 honoree information sheet
