[agonyea]

Taken from the Medal of Honor website.

VIETNAM
“Want me to take ’em back?”

June 18, 1968, then 1st Lieutenant Larry Taylor raced across the lush Vietnamese landscape in his AH-1G Cobra attack helicopter. With time limited and the mission critical, a beleaguered Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) struggled to fend off incessant, and overwhelming, enemy assaults. 1st Lieutenant Taylor, his co-pilot J.O. Ratliff, and his wingman Captain Roger Trickler, arrived at a scene of total chaos and immediately set out to provide much-needed fire support. The new AH-1Gs began expending their arsenals which raked against the forefront of the enemy onslaught and drove them to cover. Continuous and deadly fire rained from the choppers’ miniguns and rocket pods as the four members of Team Wildcat 2 on the ground regrouped and bolstered their defenses. The two Cobras, Dark Horse 32, hammered the tree line, but the flickering lights of their muzzle flash eventually gave way to darkness and the ominous glow of flares. Reinforcements remained out of range and the now silenced aerial bombardment piqued the enemy’s curiosity. Though the Cobras daringly swooped towards the now encouraged Viet Cong, it became clear that this was the last stand. Undeterred and with complete disregard for his own safety 1st Lieutenant Larry Taylor alerted Team Wildcat 2 to move to an extraction point he had chosen nearby. Guided by 1st Lieutenant Taylor’s landing light, the LRRPs made their way to the landing zone as the AH-1G bore the brunt of incoming enemy fire. Ten days earlier, 1st Lieutenant Taylor had undertaken a very similar mission: the extraction of a LRRP team while under heavy enemy fire. Yet in this instance a medical evacuation helicopter extracted the soldiers while Taylor provided devastating covering fire. For this action, he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross (one of four over the course of his service). Hovering above Team Wildcat 2, 1st Lieutenant Larry Taylor had no evacuation ship to defend and no passenger space aboard the sleek gunship to board the exhausted men. Regardless, Taylor landed the Cobra and directed the unit to grab ahold of whatever they could. With one final gnashing of teeth from Trickler’s Cobra to cover the action, the ground team clutched onto the rocket pods and struts of the battered AH-1G. With deft, yet gentle, piloting, 1st Lieutenant Taylor lifted the entirety of Team Wildcat 2 from the rice paddy and away from the spitting trees which sent red hot venom chasing after them.
Lrrp Team Extracted By Cobra Gunship By Darren Hostetter ©
Low and slow, the Cobra sailed over the lush Vietnamese landscape, this time with additional occupants safely aboard. With direction from another helicopter, 1st Lieutenant Taylor landed at a water plant five miles away from what would have been a decidedly sober scene. That is if 1st Lieutenant Larry Taylor had not gone above and beyond in the line of duty.

The original award bestowed upon the pilot for this action was the Silver Star, a medal which joined a litany of other decorations including the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, two Bronze Stars, four Distinguished Flying Crosses, 44 Air Medals, among others over the course of his career. Over 50 years later, this daring feat is now recognized as deserving of the nation’s highest award for military valor; the Medal of Honor. A medal whose birthplace, like Captain Larry Taylor, is right here in Chattanooga, Tennessee.