President Joe Biden has awarded the Medal of Honor to an Army pilot from the Vietnam War who risked his life to rescue a reconnaissance team that was about to be overrun by the enemy — facing almost certain death
on Tuesday, honoring the Army pilot who risked his life during the Vietnam War by flying into heavy enemy fire to save four members of a reconnaissance team from almost certain death as they were about to be overrun.
Taylor, a Tennessean who is now 81, recalled in an interview last week that he had to figure out how to get the men out, otherwise “they wouldn’t make it.” Taylor arrived in minutes at the site northeast of what is now Ho Chi Minh City. He asked the team to send up flares to mark their location in the dark. Taylor and a pilot in an accompanying helicopter started firing their ships’ Miniguns and rockets at the enemy, making low-level attack runs and braving intense ground fire for about a half-hour.
“I finally just flew up behind them and sat down on the ground,” Taylor said by telephone. “They turned around and jumped on the aircraft. A couple were sitting on the skids. 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!”
“You just do whatever is expedient and do whatever to save the lives of the people you’re trying to rescue,” he said. Taylor received scores of combat decorations, including the Silver Star, a Bronze Star and two Distinguished Flying Crosses. The president noted that, all told, Taylor flew more than 2,000 combat missions — earning 43 air medals.Still, Hill said in an interview that he and Taylor's other supporters were shocked to learn over the years that Taylor had not been awarded a Medal of Honor.
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