Before McDonald enlisted in late 2003, the military was the farthest thing from his mind, which was preoccupied with playing guitar and the Grateful Dead according to the Portland Press Herald. But when a friend told him of his experiences at Army boot camp, McDonald realized that he yearned for the same kind of discipline in his life, the paper said. After two tours in Iraq, he was killed on March 28, 2007, when his vehicle tipped over during his third tour, in North Kabul, Afghanistan.