Prominent surgeon killed in Iraq

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- The funeral service for a Philadelphia surgeon killed in Iraq has been moved to the city's Catholic cathedral because so many mourners are expected.

Dr. John Pryor, trauma director at the University of Pennsylvania Trauma Center, died Christmas Day when a mortar hit his living quarters, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Pryor, a major in the Army Reserve, was on his second tour of duty as a combat surgeon in Iraq and was working near Mosul.

Penn President Amy Guttmann said that Pryor's medical career "was marked by a deep commitment to service," which included traveling to New York as soon as he learned of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, The Daily Pennsylvanian said.

Pryor wrote about his experience during his first Iraq tour in an op ed piece in The Washington Post in 2007.

"As nine or 10 patients from a firefight rolled in, I sometimes caught myself saying 'just like another Friday night in West Philadelphia,'" he said.

His funeral is scheduled for Monday at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia.

Pryor, 42, lived in Moorestown, N.J., with his wife, Carmela Calvo, daughter and two sons.