Captain Larry L. Taylor

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The U.S. Army will induct Captain Larry L. Taylor into the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes. The Pentagon ceremony will add Captain Larry L. Taylor's name to the distinguished roster in the Hall of Heroes, the Defense Department's permanent display of record for all recipients of the Medal of Honor.

hometown

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Enlistment date

March 1955

Military Occupation (MOS)

Rotary Wing Aviator (153A)

Unit

1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division

Deployments

Vietnam War 1967 - 1969

PHOTO: Larry Taylor joined the U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Upon graduation in June 1966.

Larry Taylor was born in 1942 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He grew up in a family and community that emphasized the importance of military service. His great-great-grandfather fought in the Civil War, his great-uncle in World War I and his father and uncles in World War II.

Larry Taylor joined the U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Upon graduation in June 1966, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve, then joined the regular Army in August, volunteering as an armor officer. He joined the U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Upon graduation in June 1966, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve, then joined the regular Army in August, volunteering as an armor officer.

After graduating from the U.S. Army Armor School at Fort Knox, Kentucky, Taylor quickly realized he was better suited to be a pilot than an armor officer. He had already obtained a fixed-wing pilot's license before joining the Army and thought that experience would make it easier to learn rotary-wing flying. After receiving permission to train as a helicopter pilot, he attended the U.S. Army Primary Helicopter School at Fort Wolters, Texas, and then advanced helicopter training at Fort Rucker (renamed Fort Novosel in 2023), Alabama, where he qualified as an Army aviator in June 1967.

Taylor served in Vietnam from August 1967 to August 1968, flying some of the first Bell AH1-G Cobra attack helicopters in combat. Serving with D Troop (Air), 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division, Taylor flew over 2,000 combat missions in UH-1 and Cobra helicopters. He was engaged by enemy fire 340 times and was forced down five times. The U.S. Army awarded him at least 50 combat decorations, including the Silver Star, 43 Air Medals, a Bronze Star and two Distinguished Flying Crosses. He also received the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Bronze Star.

1st Lt. Larry L. Taylor in his UH-1 “Huey” helicopter. Taylor served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968 with D Troop (Air), 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division. He flew over 2,000 combat missions in UH-1 and Cobra helicopters. (Photo courtesy of Lewis D. Ray.).

1st Lt. Larry L. Taylor at his base camp north of Saigon. He served in Vietnam from August 1967 to August 1968. (Photo courtesy of Lewis D. Ray.).

Among his many harrowing operations, the most dangerous and frightening took place on June 18, 1968, when he rescued a four-man long range patrol team at significant risk to his own life. For his heroic actions that night, the Army awarded him the Silver Star, which President Joe Biden upgraded to the Medal of Honor in 2023.

Taylor concluded his military service as a captain with the 2nd Armored Cavalry in West Germany. After his Army service, he operated a successful roofing and sheet metal company in Chattanooga and was involved with several veterans' organizations. He has also been a generous donor to charitable nonprofit organizations in the Chattanooga area. Taylor and his wife, Toni, reside in Signal Mountain, Tennessee.

PHOTO: Larry and Toni Taylor are retired now and live in Signal Mountain, Tennessee. (Photo courtesy of the Taylor family.)

PHOTO: An AH-1 Cobra helicopter returns from a mission. 1st Lt. Larry L. Taylor served in Vietnam from August 1967 to August 1968, flying some of the first Bell AH1-G Cobra attack helicopters in combat. (Photo credit Lewis D. Ray).

The Battle

A feat that had never been accomplished or even attempted.

June 18, 1968 | Near Ap Go Cong, Bình Dương province, Republic of Vietnam

1st Infantry Division

Read Full Unit History

Then-1st Lt. Larry L. Taylor distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Troop D (Air), 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division, on June 18, 1968, near the hamlet of Ap Go Cong, Republic of Vietnam. On that night he flew one of two AH-1G Cobra helicopter gunships sent to support a four-man long-range reconnaissance patrol team that had been surrounded and was in danger of being overrun.

Taking off from their Phu Loi base, Taylor and his wingman arrived at the contact site just northeast of Saigon a few minutes later. Once overhead, Taylor radioed the patrol team and asked the four Soldiers to mark their location with flares. Using the illumination as a reference point, he and his wingman strafed the enemy with mini-guns and aerial rockets. Braving intense ground fire, the two Cobra gunships continued to make low-level attack runs for the next 45 minutes.

Sgt. Dave Hill with one of his trackers. Hill was one of the men 1st Lt. Larry L. Taylor rescued on June 18, 1968. Part of a long-range reconnaissance patrol, Hill and three others were surrounded by the enemy when Taylor extracted them in a helicopter that wasn't designed to carry passengers. Hill ended up riding backward on a rocket pod of an AH-1 Cobra that was running out of fuel, and the team made it back to their base safely. (Photo courtesy of Thomas W. McMahon.) With both helicopters nearly out of ammunition and the enemy still closing in, Taylor reconnoitered the escape route the team intended to take. He concluded that the four Soldiers would be overwhelmed if they tried to reach their evacuation point near the Dong Nai River.

PHOTO: Sgt. Dave Hill with one of his trackers. Hill was one of the men 1st Lt. Larry L. Taylor rescued on June 18, 1968. Part of a long-range reconnaissance patrol, Hill and three others were surrounded by the enemy when Taylor extracted them in a helicopter that wasn't designed to carry passengers. Hill ended up riding backward on a rocket pod of an AH-1 Cobra that was running out of fuel, and the team made it back to their base safely. (Photo courtesy of Thomas W. McMahon.)

Returning to the patrol team's location, Taylor learned that a plan to rescue the Soldiers with a UH-1 “Huey” helicopter had been canceled because it stood almost no chance of success. Running low on fuel, with the patrol team nearly out of ammunition, Taylor decided on a bold and innovative plan to extract the team using his two-man Cobra helicopter, a feat that had never been accomplished or even attempted.

With the 4-man LRRP team surrounded and out of ammo, LT. Taylor and his air support team were determined not to leave the patrol on the ground — regardless of the consequences. Taylor stated that he and his Cobra team could not "sit helplessly by while the LRRPs got massacred." Once the LRRP team was safely extracted and dropped off, LT. Taylor and co-pilot CW2 James Ratliff realized that they were dangerously low on fuel. As reported by Taylor, they had to make a "25-minute flight on 20-minutes of fuel."

He directed his wingman to fire his remaining mini-gun rounds along the eastern flank of the patrol team and then return to base camp. Taylor fired his own remaining mini-gun rounds along the team's western flank, using his Cobra's landing lights to draw the enemy's attention while the patrol team headed southeast toward a nearby extraction point Taylor had designated.

When the team reached the site, Taylor landed his Cobra under heavy enemy fire and with complete disregard for his personal safety. The patrol team climbed aboard, sitting on the rocket-pods and skids, and Taylor carried them to a safe location before landing them back on the ground.

Taylor's conspicuous gallantry, his profound concern for his fellow Soldiers, and his intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army

"...In extracting our LRRP team, "Wildcat 2", on your Cobra, from a very hostile, deadly and lonely rice paddy near the village of Ap Go Cong, Republic of Vietnam. Who would have bet that any of us would have even seen the sun come up on the morning of 19 June 1968, let alone the dawns of another 54 years. Words are inadequate to describe your actions, nor my humble gratitude, for the many years of friendship given you and me since then, so I will just say: "Thank you, Sir"..."

- Dave Hill, Member of LRRP Team Extracted by Cobra Gunship on 54th annivesary of rescue,
Saturday, June 18, 2022

The Ceremony

“When duty called, Larry did everything — did everything to answer. And because of that, he rewrote the fate of four families for generations to come. That's valor.”

President Joseph R. Biden
White House Ceremony, September 5, 2023

Read The Official Citation

Articles & Resources

Congressional Medal of Honor Society - Larry L. Taylor
Vietnam vet awarded Medal of Honor 55 years later for daring helicopter rescue Army attack helicopter pilot Larry Taylor scrambled to rescue a small patrol of soldiers surrounded by enemies on the ground in Vietnam, according to a dramatic account he and the men he helped save tell about the life-and-death moments more than five decades ago.
'I was doing my job': Vietnam vet Larry Taylor to receive the Medal of Honor Taylor, who retired as a captain, was an Army helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War and led a rescue mission in 1968 to save a small group of soldiers trapped in a rice field by enemy troops. “I was doing my job. I knew that if I did not go down and get them, they would not make it,” said Taylor, now 81 and living in Tennessee.
Biden to award Vietnam-era Army helicopter pilot with Medal of Honor Biden will extend the nation’s highest military service award to retired Capt. Larry L. Taylor, of Chattanooga, Tenn., a veteran who has already earned dozens of medals for his service, including the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal.
Former Big Red One Soldier receives Medal of Honor On September 11, 2023, Soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division were invited to participate in the Patriot Day and Welcome Home Parade for former Big Red One Soldier, Capt. Larry Taylor, our country's newest Medal of Honor recipient. Capt. Taylor received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during a brave rescue mission where he saved four men surrounded by enemy gunfire in 1968.

1st Infantry Division

The Red Number "1" represents the division's numerical designation as the first and oldest permanent division in the United States Army. It also gave the unit its famous nickname, the "Big Red One". The red signifies courage and sacrifice, while the drab background represents the traditional color of military field uniforms and infantry service.

The unit was organized in New York City on June 8, 1917, from Army units previously stationed from the Mexican border to New Jersey. Initially formed as an expeditionary division, it deployed in stages over the next six months to France, where it joined the American Expeditionary Forces under the command of Gen. John Pershing. The 1st Division was the earliest American unit to see action in World War I and remained in the thick of the fighting until the Armistice on Nov. 11, 1918. At the close of the war the division adopted its iconic Big Red One patch, which is still worn today by Soldiers from that unit.

During World War II it was designated the 1st Infantry Division and was one of the earliest American divisions to reach England. The Big Red One played a crucial role in the invasions of North Africa and Sicily, landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day, and fought its way across France, Belgium and Germany until the end of the war on May 8, 1945. After the war, the division remained in Germany as part of the occupation force, and later as part of NATO. The division returned to the United States in 1955, redeploying to Fort Riley, Kansas.

In the summer of 1965, the Big Red One was the first full Army infantry division called to fight in Vietnam. Over the next five years, it saw constant action against some of the toughest Viet Cong and North Vietnamese units in the war. In April 1970 the division returned to Fort Riley, where it prepared for future conflicts by participating in the Reforger exercises in Germany and in desert warfare maneuvers at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California.

In 1990-1991 the 1st Infantry Division deployed more than 12,000 Soldiers to Saudi Arabia in support of operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. The Big Red One was among the first to breach Iraq's western defense lines, and elements from the division earned a Valorous Unit Citation for the capture of Safwan.

On April 10, 1996, the colors of the 1st Infantry Division moved to the German city of Würzburg, and Soldiers from the Big Red One participated in contingency and peacekeeping operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia and Kosovo over the next several years. The division cased its colors in Germany on July 7, 2006, and returned once again to Fort Riley.

In the post-9/11 era, elements of the 1st Infantry Division have deployed multiple times in support of combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and have played a crucial role in contingency operations across the globe. Today the 1st Infantry Division continues its service as one of the oldest and most-decorated organizations in the United States Army.

For more information about the 1st Infantry Division: