James Allen Taylor (born December 31, 1937) is a retired

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

—for his actions in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

Military career

Taylor joined the

from

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, in 1956 and was commissioned as an officer in 1965. By November 8, 1967, he was serving as a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

in Troop B, 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment,

Americal Division The Americal Division was an infantry division of the United States Army during World War II and the Vietnam War. The division was activated 27 May 1942 on the island of New Caledonia. In the immediate emergency following Pearl Harbor, the Un ...

. When his commander was wounded in action, Taylor was ordered into the combat zone to take command and prepare a search-and-destroy mission. During a battle the next day, west of Que Son in the

Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of t ...

, Taylor repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire to rescue crewmen from damaged assault vehicles and personnel carriers. He was subsequently promoted to captain and awarded the

on November 19, 1968. Taylor reached the rank of major before retiring from the army in 1980. He holds a bachelor's degree in criminology from the

University of Tampa The University of Tampa (UT) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UT offers more than 200 programs of study, including 22 master's degrees and a broad variety of majors, ...

."Real Heroes are Among UT Alums," by Steve Otto, The Tampa Tribune, Metro Section, pp. 1, 4; April 15, 2013

Medal of Honor citation

Lyndon Johnson with 5 MOH recipients 29-2620M

Taylor's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, James Allen 1937 births Living people People from Arcata, California Military personnel from California United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War United States Army Medal of Honor recipients United States Army officers Vietnam War recipients of the Medal of Honor

Military career

Medal of Honor citation

See also

References

External links