Karl Taylor

     On the night of 8 December 1968, Marine Staff Sergeant Karl G. Taylor advanced with the Marines of India Company, 3/26 through an open rice paddy. In this final phase of Operation Meade River, the Marines knew the fight would be a rough one.

     A former Drill Instructor at both Parris Island and Officer Candidates School, Taylor served as the company Gunnery Sergeant. He was revered and respected by his Marines, and had proven his mettle time and time again.

     Machine guns opened up, pinning Marines down across the field and cutting them off. Taylor crossed the kill zone in search of the company's CO, Captain Ron Hoover.

     “Skipper, give me that blooper,” he said. “My men are in trouble. I’ve got to go help my Marines.” Hoover handed him a single shot M79 grenade launcher.

     SSgt Taylor took off into the twilight. Turning to another Marine named Larry Gore, Hoover said, “Don’t let him do anything stupid, go with him.”

     Taylor and Gore moved from cover to cover, finding wounded Marines at each stop along the way. They directed those who could move, and assisted those who could not, back to a bomb crater acting as a casualty collection point. As Gore and the other Marines moved and carried the wounded, Taylor lobbed a steady stream of grenades from his M79 into the enemy machine gun positions.

     After multiple trips from the crater into the field and back with wounded, the two Marines crawled out a final time. They joined some of the others who were furthest ahead and trapped close to the enemy bunkers. By this time, Taylor had successfully silenced two enemy guns, and was out of grenades. A single remaining heavy machine gun maintained a steady rate of fire. 

     The Marines lie trapped on the ground, several already wounded. Taylor took all the M79 ammo the Marines with him had left, and ordered Gore to get everyone else back to the crater. They began to fall back when suddenly, through the darkness behind him, Gore heard the dueling explosions of grenades versus machine gun. “It was horrible just hearing that,” he remembered. “We said, ‘oh my God he’s still alive. He’s still alive.’ We kept hearing ‘BLOOP…BOOM,’ then, ‘BOW BOW BOW BOW BOW!’” Charging through the open rice paddy, Taylor assaulted the NVA heavy machine gun, firing grenades as he ran.

     The Marines heard the blooper fire once more and a final retort from the machine gun, then the field fell silent.  When they finally reached his position later, the Marines found Taylor dead, killed by the enemy machine gunner. They also found with his last shot, Taylor had simultaneously knocked out that machine gun. For his heroic actions, supreme sacrifice, and dedication to his Marines, SSgt Taylor was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. 

     "Karl was a hero that stood out among heroes," reflected Hoover. "He was not the John Wayne type, but he had a dedication to the Marine Corps that all drill instructors have, and his troops were most important in his mind.”