Lasting Impact: Taylor Road Commemorates Vietnam Veteran

FORT RILEY, Kansas - The 1st Infantry Division conducted a street renaming ceremony to commemorate the heroic actions of Capt. Larry L. Taylor, a veteran of the First Division awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Vietnam War, on Fort Riley, Nov. 1, 2024.

The ceremony to commemorate Taylor's heroism during the Vietnam War took place at the corner of formerly named Smoky Hill Road and Marshall Drive meet on post.

"This is a tremendous honor for a tremendous pilot," said Sgt. (Ret.) Dave Hill, a veteran of the 1st Infantry Division, rescued by Taylor in the Vietnam War. "As long as we remember him in events like this, Larry is still here."

The newly named Taylor Road is another reminder of the 1st Infantry Division's dedication to honoring the legacy of Soldiers of the Big Red One.

"I had the very great privilege of training with Larry Taylor in my early months of Vietnam," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 (Ret.) J.O. Ratliff, a veteran of the 1st Infantry Division who co-piloted alongside Taylor in the Vietnam War. "He absolutely embodied 'Duty First' by risking his life to save ours."

On June 18, 1968, at approximately 9 p.m., a horn sounded, and the pilots raced to get their helicopters enroute to a rice paddy near a village south of Ap Go Cong, Bình Dương Province of the Republic of Vietnam. After learning that the coordinates led to a four-man long-range reconnaissance patrol team whom the enemy had outnumbered and surrounded, Taylor had to think fast.

He told his co-pilot to fire his last bullets along the east side of the patrol group then go back to base. Taylor used the helicopter's lights to conceal his patrol group as they fled for safety. Flying into the enemy, in his helicopter designed for two, he rescued four additional people on its landing gear - a feat never attempted before.

"While Captain Larry Taylor dismissed his actions as 'just doing his job', he fully embodied duty first," said U.S. Army Col. Matthew Hardman, the deputy commanding officer of maneuver of the 1st Infantry Division. "With the naming of this street, we have a tangible daily reminder of his legacy and that heroes have and do walk among us."

Taylor's bravery and valor enabled families to be reunited, and his life, service, and indelible leadership will continue to beacon inspiration, urging everyone in the Big Red One to strive for excellence and carry forth his legacy.