‘Welcome Home Parade’ to be held for Capt. Larry Taylor
Medal of Honor Recipient
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — There are just a little over 3,500 Medal of Honor recipients in the history of the United States.
Larry Taylor is the 33rd Tennessean to receive this honor.
To celebrate, there will be a ‘Welcome Home Parade and Ceremony’ held to honor Capt. Taylor on Monday.
The last dedication ceremony in Chattanooga happened in 1946.
Almost 70 years later, Chattanooga is again honoring one of its own with a special celebration.
The National Medal of Honor Heritage Center with participating organizations encourage the public to line the streets of downtown Chattanooga to pay respect and honor to this true American hero.
“For Chattanooga, the last time we had a living recipient here was 1946 when Medal of Honor recipients Charles Coolidge, Paul Huff, and Raymond Cooley returned home from the European Theater in World War II. The city and county closed down to honor them in this parade. That’s what we’re doing on Monday, Sept. 11,” National Medal of Honor Heritage Center Director of Major Gifts/Endowment Campaign Vince Butler said.
Larry Taylor was born and raised in Chattanooga.
He received his Medal of Honor on September 5, 2023, from President Biden for his brave service in Vietnam.
Now, Chattanooga and surrounding communities will have the chance to honor him in a parade and ceremony on Monday, September 11.
“This is a son of St. Elmo who as an adult has lived on Signal Mountain. What we want people to understand the way that we were able to schedule this out, is that he received the Medal of Honor from President Biden, and then that a few days later we formally receive him home with a parade,” Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp said.
With a prevalent history of patriotism in the scenic city, Capt. Taylor makes history as the sixth Medal of Honor recipient native to Chattanooga.
The parade will honor him with a flyover of a first-generation Cobra which is the helicopter he flew on June 18, 1968, when he saved four lives.
President Joe Biden stated, “When duty called, Larry did everything to answer. Because of that, he rewrote the fate of four families for generations to come.”
