Absinthe_1900
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,628
- Location
- The Heights in Houston TX
Another hero pilot has Gone West.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com:80/ss/local/34507.php
A fighter pilot hero of World War II has died here.
Kenneth Taylor was 86.
The Army Air Corps second lieutenant was "comfortably asleep" in
borrowed officers' quarters on a Hawaiian island one Sunday morning in
1941 after a "very entertaining" Saturday night out, his son Kenneth
Taylor Jr. recalled yesterday.
The 21-year-old pilot, who'd never seen combat, awoke suddenly to the
sound of the Japanese attack on U.S. military forces in Hawaii.
Japanese pilots were strafing the officers' quarters where Taylor and
24-year-old pilot George S. Welch slept.
The first wave of Japanese fighter planes had wrecked most of the
Army's air fleet on Oahu, dropping high explosives on two-thirds of the
fleet of 140 P-40s and P-36s. And the U.S. Navy fleet in Pearl Harbor
was under attack.
Taylor and the 47th Fighter Squadron of the 18th Fighter Group were
based at Wheeler Army Air Field in central Oahu for gunnery practice.
The Curtiss P-40 Warhawks he and Welch flew weren't armed or fueled.
Taylor's son said that was because the Army had been more afraid of
sabotage than an attack by the Japanese.
Taylor, dressed in tuxedo trousers from the night before, jumped out of
bed to call the ground crew and asked it to arm and fuel their planes.
"While the crew got their two planes ready to go, George Welch and my
dad got into my dad's Buick convertible and drove out to the airfield"
at up to 100 mph.
Haleiwa Air Field was barely an airfield and more like "a strip of sod
right off the beach," he said.
Welch and Taylor got into their aircraft "while a major jumped all over
both of them for taking off without orders. He was busy chewing them
out while crews put the ammo on board."
Taylor's P-40 "knocked over the ammunition dolly as he taxied out. My
dad was firing his guns before he was off the ground. He took off into
the tail of the Japanese airplanes."
"This is a fighter pilot's dream," his son said. "Pearl Harbor's been
attacked, and everything out there is a target."
Taylor found himself "in the middle of an attack. Someone in the rear
was attacking him, and he was wounded in the arm by a shell fragment.
His squadron mate shot down the guy who was on his tail, otherwise he
might not have survived that moment," the younger Taylor said.
Taylor went back up in the air after getting first aid. He and Welch
are credited with a total of six downed Japanese aircraft.
"It was what he was supposed to do, what he was trained to do, what he
had the temperament to do," his son said. Two weeks later, he turned
22.
"He didn't feel particularly heroic," his son said.
Taylor is credited with shooting down two Japanese fighter planes and
with two unconfirmed hits. Welch is credited with four hits. The men
received the Distinguished Service Cross for their valor but were
denied the Medal of Honor because they went into combat without orders.
Their actions were portrayed in the 1970 film "Tora! Tora! Tora!"
Taylor is survived by his wife, Flora, whom he married in 1942; son
Kenneth Taylor Jr. of Green Valley; daughter Jo Kristina Hartley of
Washington state and three grandchildren.
His remains were cremated and will be placed at Arlington National
Cemetery in Virginia, his son said. There will be no funeral service.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com:80/ss/local/34507.php
A fighter pilot hero of World War II has died here.
Kenneth Taylor was 86.
The Army Air Corps second lieutenant was "comfortably asleep" in
borrowed officers' quarters on a Hawaiian island one Sunday morning in
1941 after a "very entertaining" Saturday night out, his son Kenneth
Taylor Jr. recalled yesterday.
The 21-year-old pilot, who'd never seen combat, awoke suddenly to the
sound of the Japanese attack on U.S. military forces in Hawaii.
Japanese pilots were strafing the officers' quarters where Taylor and
24-year-old pilot George S. Welch slept.
The first wave of Japanese fighter planes had wrecked most of the
Army's air fleet on Oahu, dropping high explosives on two-thirds of the
fleet of 140 P-40s and P-36s. And the U.S. Navy fleet in Pearl Harbor
was under attack.
Taylor and the 47th Fighter Squadron of the 18th Fighter Group were
based at Wheeler Army Air Field in central Oahu for gunnery practice.
The Curtiss P-40 Warhawks he and Welch flew weren't armed or fueled.
Taylor's son said that was because the Army had been more afraid of
sabotage than an attack by the Japanese.
Taylor, dressed in tuxedo trousers from the night before, jumped out of
bed to call the ground crew and asked it to arm and fuel their planes.
"While the crew got their two planes ready to go, George Welch and my
dad got into my dad's Buick convertible and drove out to the airfield"
at up to 100 mph.
Haleiwa Air Field was barely an airfield and more like "a strip of sod
right off the beach," he said.
Welch and Taylor got into their aircraft "while a major jumped all over
both of them for taking off without orders. He was busy chewing them
out while crews put the ammo on board."
Taylor's P-40 "knocked over the ammunition dolly as he taxied out. My
dad was firing his guns before he was off the ground. He took off into
the tail of the Japanese airplanes."
"This is a fighter pilot's dream," his son said. "Pearl Harbor's been
attacked, and everything out there is a target."
Taylor found himself "in the middle of an attack. Someone in the rear
was attacking him, and he was wounded in the arm by a shell fragment.
His squadron mate shot down the guy who was on his tail, otherwise he
might not have survived that moment," the younger Taylor said.
Taylor went back up in the air after getting first aid. He and Welch
are credited with a total of six downed Japanese aircraft.
"It was what he was supposed to do, what he was trained to do, what he
had the temperament to do," his son said. Two weeks later, he turned
22.
"He didn't feel particularly heroic," his son said.
Taylor is credited with shooting down two Japanese fighter planes and
with two unconfirmed hits. Welch is credited with four hits. The men
received the Distinguished Service Cross for their valor but were
denied the Medal of Honor because they went into combat without orders.
Their actions were portrayed in the 1970 film "Tora! Tora! Tora!"
Taylor is survived by his wife, Flora, whom he married in 1942; son
Kenneth Taylor Jr. of Green Valley; daughter Jo Kristina Hartley of
Washington state and three grandchildren.
His remains were cremated and will be placed at Arlington National
Cemetery in Virginia, his son said. There will be no funeral service.
