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

Kenneth Taylor, Pearl Harbor Hero-- Part 4: 14 Pilots Got Off Ground That Day, Both Became Flying Aces in the War

Taylor was credited with shooting down two Japanese aircraft that day, but a later search of Japanese records after the war confirmed that he had shot down four.  His wingman, George Welch, also took credit for shooting down four planes.

Taylor said he didn't have time to be scared during that morning's battle.  "I wasn't in the least bit scared and let me tell you why:  I was too young and too stupid to realize that I was in a lot of danger."

Both men were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross of Valor, the second highest award for bravery.  In all, 14 American pilots got off the ground to fight that morning and shot down ten Japanese planes.

Taylor and Welch both became flying aces during the war.  Taylor flew 40 combat missions, including 100 combat hours in a P-40 fighter and was credited with shooting down six Japanese planes.

GreGen

Kenneth Taylor, Pearl Harbor Hero-- Part 3: Fighting the Japanese in the Air

Kenneth Taylor and George Welch landed at Wheeler Field to rearm.  Wheeler had already been under attack.  Senior officers there at first ordered the two to abandon their airplanes.  But, when they quickly dispersed under a new Japanese attack, the two pilots had their opportunity to get back into the air.

With enemy planes attacking the field, Taylor opted to take off directly into their formation.so he could shoot at them as he took off and they couldn't shoot him from behind.

Said Taylor:  "Wheeler was just a grass field in those days, and you could take off in any direction you wanted, and I took off right toward them, which gave me the ability to shoot at them before I even left the ground."

In the ensuing engagement, Taylor received minor wounds.

Once in the air, Taylor continued:  "I got behind one of them and started shooting again.  The only thing I didn't know at the time was that I had got in the middle of their line instead of at the end.  there was somebody on my tail.  They put a bullet right behind my head through the canopy.  So I got a little shrapnel in my leg and through my arm.  It was of no consequence;  it just scared the hell out of me for a minute."

--GreGen

Kenneth Taylor, Pearl Harbor Pilot-- Part 2: Two Warhawks Vs. the Japanese

On December 6, 1941, his squadron was temporarily detached to Haleiwa Field, about 11 miles from Wheeler, for gunnery practice.  Kenneth Taylor spent the night and morning playing cards at the officers' club with a fellow second lieutenant and close friend, George Welch of Delaware.

They were awakened at 8 am on the 7th by machine gun fire and explosions.  Taylor called ahead to Haleiwa Field and  and ordered two P-40 Warhawks to be armed and fueled, then he and Welch, still clad in their tuxedo trousers from the night before, raced in Taylor's car to Haleiwa and were strafed along the way.  (These are the two people the movie "Pearl Harbor" based their two main characters on.)

They got to Haleiwa unharmed and got airborne without incident.  The first planes they spotted were the inbound formation of unarmed B-17s flying in from the mainland.  But as they approached the Marine Corps airfield at Ewa, they encountered Japanese planes.

Despite being vastly outnumbered and outgunned, they immediately attacked the Japanese.  Taylor said, "We just got in line with them and started shooting them down, and ultimately ran out of ammunition."

--GreGen

Kenneth Taylor, One of Just 14 Pilots to get Their Planes Up Against the Japanese at Pearl Harbor Honored-- Part 1

From the October 27, 2019 Enid (Oklahoma) News & Eagle  "Enid native, Pearl Harbor hero to be inducted into Military Hall of Fame" by James Neal.

The late Brigadier Gen. Kenneth Taylor was honored as one of the first two pilots to get their aircraft into the air to fight the Japanese Dec. 7, 1941.  He was inducted posthumously into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame on Saturday.

He was one of 13 veterans who were inducted.  Also honored at the ceremony were the USS Oklahoma  and 429 sailors and Marines who died aboard her that day.

Taylor was born December 23, 1919,  and shortly afterwards his family moved to Hominy, Ok., where he graduated high school.  He attended pre-law at the University of Oklahoma and joined the Army Air Corps two years later.

After completing flight training at  Brooks Field, San Antonio, Texas,  He was promoted to second lieutenant and assigned to the 47th Pursuit Squadron at Wheeler Field in Oahu, Hawaii.

--GreGen