Kenneth Taylor, Pearl Harbor Hero-- Part 5: George Welch and After the War

George Welch flew  more than 300 missions in the Pacific Theater during the war and is credited with shooting down at least 12 Japanese planes.  After the war he became a test pilot and died in 1954 in a test flight of a F-100 Super Sabre fighter jet.

Taylor stayed in the Air Force after the war and retired in 1967 and then was with the Alaska Air National Guard, retiring as a brigadier general in 1971.

His other awards and decorations include the Air Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, tyhe Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, two Bronze Service Stars.

After he left the military, he worked as an aviation insurance underwriter for Lloyd's of London until 1985 and died in 2006.

Taylor's son, Kenneth Taylor Jr., followed in his father's footsteps, serving as a gunship and cargo pilot in the Vietnam War, accumulating more than 6,600 flying hours and 500 combat hours and eventually rose to the rank of brigadier general.

A well deserved honor to be inducted into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame.

--GreGen