Taylor, Kenneth Marlar, Brig Gen

Brigadier General Kenneth Taylor "rose to the rank of Colonel during his 27 years of active duty service having served at various bases stateside during and after the war, including the Pentagon, where he retired as a colonel in 1969 (Note: actual year was 1967). He then became commander of the Alaska Air National Guard and retired as a Brigadier General in 1971. Following retirement he then worked as an insurance underwriter in Alaska, representing Lloyds of London, until 1985." Source: http://www.456fis.org

"General Taylor split his retirement between Anchorage and Arizona. He was a technical adviser for the 1970 film 'Tora! Tora! Tora!' in which his character was played by actor Carl Reindel. In the 2001 movie 'Pearl Harbor,' actor Ben Afflect played a character based on Gen. Taylor, although he was not consulted and considered the film 'a piece of trash...over-sensationalized and distorted,' according to his son. Source: http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net

"After contracting an illness from a hip surgery ....Taylor died on November 25, 2006 of a strangulated hernia at an assisted living residence in Tucson, Arizona..." Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wika/Kenneth_M._Taylor

Brigadier General Kenneth Taylor is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Note: I've listed his service years from 1940 to 1971, though his active duty service is recorded from 1940 to 1967, after which his second career in uniform was with the Alaskan Air National Guard, where he became a Brigadier General before retirement from that service in 1971. It is also noted that before his enlistment in 1940 he served in the Oklahoma National Guard in 1936-38 and again in 1939. As to his medals on the right panel, in cases when I did not know the date of the award, the default date was used. Below are excerpts from a more comprehensive biography. I

"General Taylor was born in Enid, Oklahoma on 23 December 1919 but spent most of his youth in the small eastern town of Hominy where he graduated from high school in 1938. Like many young men of the community he also attended the University of Oklahoma. In 1940 the excitement of aviation lured hm away from academe and into Army pilot training. He completed the aviation cadet program in 1941 and went to his first assignment with the 47th Pursuit Squadron of the 15th Pursuit Group at Wheeler Field in Hawaii.

The new second lieutenant's enjoyment of the glamorous fighter pilot's life was rudely interrupted by the Japanese attack on Hawaii on December 7th 1941. His squadron's aircraft escaped destruction in the initial attack because they had been deployed to an outlying airfield for gunner training. He and a squadron mate, Lt. George Welch, were the first Americans airborne in their P-40s to meet the Japanese. The results of his two sorties that day were two confirmed kills, two probables (later confirmed), the Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart.

Other wartime experiences included flying P-40s from the carrier USS Nassau to Guadalcanal via Espirito Santos. He stayed with the 44th Pursuit Squadron there until 1943 scoring two additional victories. He finished the war as a Major. The late war years and the immediate postwar years were turbulent ones with many assignments: command of several units including the P-47 Replacement Training Unit, the 12th Pursuit Squadron and the 18th Pursuit Group. Immediately following the war in the Philippines, he commanded a squadron of the first USAF combat jets, the P-80.

Subsequent assignments included command of the 4961st Special Weapons Test Group at Kirtland AFB, tactical evaluator duty at USAFE/IG and a tour as a planner at Headquarters USAF. During this last assignment the general, then a colonel, made his first visit to Alaska where he evaluated the command planning process. His criticisms may have resulted in his assignment in 1958 as the Deputy Chief of Staff, Plans for the Alaskan Air Command. In 1961 he was reassigned as the Director of Operations for the 28th NORAD Region in California and then in 1964 to a final Pentagon tour as a long range planner on the Joint Staff.

In 1967 he retired from the active Air Force and assumed the position of Assistant Adjutant General, Air, for the Alaskan National Guard and was promoted to the grade of Brigadier General....During his career the general graduated from the Army Command and General Staff College, the Royal Staff College and the Air War College. His decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Air Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Achievement Medal and several wartime campaign ribbons in addition to his two Pearl Harbor decorations." Source: http://www.456fis.org/GENERAL_KEN_TAYLOR.htm

Further biographical information is available in detail at http://veterantributes.org