Larry L. Taylor

Captain Larry L. Taylor, Medal of Honor

Captain Larry L. Taylor was a United States Army helicopter pilot and Medal of Honor recipient of the Vietnam War. On 18 June 1968, while flying an AH-1G Cobra attack helicopter near Ap Go Cong in the Republic of Vietnam, then-First Lieutenant Taylor responded to an urgent call from a four-man long-range reconnaissance patrol that had been surrounded by nearly 100 enemy troops.

Flying under the call sign Darkhorse 32, Taylor and his wingman repeatedly attacked the enemy positions at dangerously low altitude, drawing heavy fire and preventing the patrol from being overrun. After expending his ammunition and finding that a rescue helicopter could not reach the men, Taylor made an extraordinary decision. He landed his Cobra in the kill zone, despite the aircraft having no passenger compartment, and extracted the four soldiers by having two cling to the rocket pods and two to the skids.

Taylor flew them to safety, completing one of the most remarkable helicopter rescues of the Vietnam War. Over his tour, he flew more than 2,000 combat missions and was hit by enemy fire on hundreds of occasions. He later left the Army as a captain and returned to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he became a businessman. He received the Medal of Honor in 2023 for his actions and died in January 2024 at the age of 81.