Local Vietnam War veteran to receive highest military decoration

SIGNAL MOUNTAIN, Tenn. (WDEF) — Signal Mountain native Larry Taylor got the good news over the weekend.

The Silver Star he earned for his heroic actions in Vietnam is being upgraded to the Congressional Medal of Honor.

“In the army, I was a captain,” said Larry Taylor, a local Vietnam veteran. “I was a cobra pilot and that was a lifetime ago.” 

Taylor was known for flying Cobra Helicopters. In Vietnam, Cobras were new and very fast.

Larry Taylor with his wife

He landed his chopper in the middle of a firefight and rescued four fellow soldiers.

“The Cobra was new at that time and you might carry between eight to 12 rockets,” Taylor said. “You, your wing man, and the Cobra could carry 152 rockets and 16,000 rounds of ammunition.” 

President Biden called Mr. Taylor, with help from State Representative, Chuck Fleischmann.

In 30 days, he will receive the highest award a soldier can get. 

In regards to his conversation with President Biden, Taylor explained, “He said ‘I don’t know whether I could have done what you did’ and I said ‘well I did wet my pants a couple of times or two over there’, but it had to be done because nobody else was there to do it.”

It’s a well-deserved honor for the University of Tennessee graduate.

And one of his fellow servicemen feels it is long overdue.  

“Sometimes you feel by yourself and you think nobody cares. But they do,” Taylor concluded.