Courage Under Fire: Chopper pilot Larry Taylor gets Medal of Honor 55 years after heroic rescue
WASHINGTON, DC: Captain Larry Taylor, an Army first lieutenant and Cobra helicopter pilot who served during the Vietnam War, is set to be honored with the Medal of Honor by President Joe Biden.
While Taylor undertook numerous missions and saved numerous lives during his service, it was one particularly daring and significant rescue that has earned him the armed forces' greatest military honor.
President Biden will bestow this prestigious honor upon Larry Taylor, 81, in an upcoming ceremony next Tuesday, September 5, as confirmed by the White House, per CBS.
Former army captain Larry Taylor's heroic mission
On the fateful night of June 18, 1968, Taylor embarked on a heroic mission.
He piloted his attack helicopter to rescue four men who were part of a long-range reconnaissance team. This team had become trapped and faced the imminent threat of being overrun by enemy forces.
At that moment, Taylor knew he had to find a way to rescue them, as their survival was at stake.
David Hill, one of the men Larry Taylor saved that night, praised Taylor for his "out of the box" thinking.
They were on a mission tracking enemy troops when they ran into North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces, leading to a firefight and ammunition running low.
Taylor arrived swiftly in his helicopter, but poor visibility posed an initial challenge.
"It's difficult to support you because I can't see you and I can't see the bad guys. I'm afraid if I start throwing some rockets out here, I'm going to kill one of you all," he recalled telling them over the radio.
Taylor asked them to use flares as markers to find the patrol team in the dark. He and another pilot in a nearby helicopter engaged the enemy with their helicopters' miniguns and rockets, making daring low-level attack runs.
They endured heavy ground fire for about 30 minutes. Both American helicopters relentlessly attacked the enemy, using up all their rockets and firing nearly 16,000 machine-gun rounds.
With both helicopters running low on ammunition and the enemy advancing, Taylor realized the planned escape route would not work.
Short on fuel and with the reconnaissance team also low on ammo, Taylor directed his wingman to use the remaining rounds on the eastern flank while heading back to base camp.
Taylor fired his remaining rounds on the western flank. He used the helicopter's landing lights to distract the enemy, giving the patrol team time to move south and east to a different extraction point he had identified.
Once they reached that point, Taylor faced heavy enemy firing, taking significant personal risk.
The four team members rushed to the helicopter, which had only two seats, and Taylor quickly flew them to safety. The entire operation on the ground lasted about 10 seconds.
"I finally just flew up behind them and sat down on the ground," Taylor explained in an interview with Stripes.
"They turned around and jumped on the aircraft. A couple were sitting on the skids," he further said.
He added, "One was sitting on the rocket pods, and I don't know where the other one was, but they beat on the side of the ship twice, which meant haul a**. And we did!"
What Taylor accomplished that night had never been tried before. "I was doing my job. I knew that if I did not go down and get them, they would not make it," he said.
Vietnam veteran Larry Taylor's early life
Taylor, originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee, graduated from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in 1966.
During his university years, he joined the Army ROTC program, attaining the rank of second lieutenant. Initially undergoing ground training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, Taylor later sought a change in direction.
"If you were on the ground, in the jungle, and there was Charlie behind every other tree, and they shot at you 24 hours a day and mortared you at night," he said.
He added, "But you had the chance to get in a Cobra … I’d rather be an a** kicker than have my a** kicked."
Taylor pursued flight training and was subsequently assigned to one of the army's initial Cobra helicopter companies in Vietnam.
His service in Vietnam spanned from August 1967 to August 1968, during which he was part of the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division.
Taylor completed over 2,000 combat missions while operating UH-1 and Cobra helicopters.
His military career came to a close in 1971 when he held the rank of captain and served with the 2nd Armored Cavalry, stationed in West Germany at the time.
Larry Taylor's medals
Taylor's remarkable service has helped him earn 61 combat decorations, among them the prestigious Silver Star, 43 Air Medals, a Bronze Star and two Distinguished Flying Crosses.
Additionally, he was honored with the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with the Bronze Star. Now, his valor is further recognized with the Presidential Medal of Honor.