Medal of Honor: James Allen Taylor – Vietnam War – November 9, 1967
Under relentless fire in the jungles of Vietnam, one cavalry officer ran again and again into burning vehicles to save his men. Captain James Allen Taylor refused to let the flames—or the enemy—claim a single life he could still reach.
November 7, 2025
Name: James Allen Taylor
Rank: Captain (then First Lieutenant)
Organization: U.S. Army
Unit: Troop B, 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry, Americal Division
Place and Date: West of Que Son, Republic of Vietnam – 9 November 1967
Entered Service At: San Francisco, California
Born: December 31, 1937 – Arcata, California
Accredited To: California
Summary of Action
On November 9, 1967, near Que Son, South Vietnam, Captain James A. Taylor’s armored cavalry troop was caught in a storm of enemy fire. A barrage of recoilless rifle, mortar, and automatic weapons fire tore into his column, striking one of the armored vehicles and setting it ablaze. Without hesitation, Taylor sprinted through the incoming fire, climbed atop the burning wreck, and dragged each of the five wounded crewmen to safety—just moments before the vehicle exploded.
When a second assault vehicle was hit and engulfed in flames, Taylor did it again. Ignoring the enemy fire that whipped around him, he rescued the trapped soldiers one by one, pulling them to cover behind a nearby dike as exploding ammunition lit the night sky.
Despite being wounded by shrapnel from a mortar blast, Taylor pressed on. He moved his own vehicle forward to establish a closer evacuation point, engaging a nearby enemy machine gun position and killing the crew. Then, when yet another vehicle was struck, Taylor once more ran into the fire, rescuing every wounded man aboard and ferrying them himself to the evacuation site.
Captain Taylor’s extraordinary courage and selfless devotion to his men turned chaos into survival. His refusal to retreat—even while bleeding and surrounded by fire—saved multiple lives and became a defining act of valor under fire.
Medal of Honor Citation
Place and date: West of Que Son, Republic of Vietnam, 9 November 1967.
Entered service at: San Francisco, Calif.
Born: 31 December 1937, Arcata, Calif.
Citation:
Capt. Taylor, Armor, was serving as executive officer of Troop B, 1st Squadron. His troop was engaged in an attack on a fortified position west of Que Son when it came under intense enemy recoilless rifle, mortar, and automatic weapons fire from an enemy strong point located immediately to its front. One armored cavalry assault vehicle was hit immediately by recoilless rifle fire and all 5 crewmembers were wounded. Aware that the stricken vehicle was in grave danger of exploding, Capt. Taylor rushed forward and personally extracted the wounded to safety despite the hail of enemy fire and exploding ammunition.
Within minutes a second armored cavalry assault vehicle was hit by multiple recoilless rifle rounds. Despite the continuing intense enemy fire, Capt. Taylor moved forward on foot to rescue the wounded men from the burning vehicle and personally removed all the crewmen to the safety of a nearby dike. Moments later the vehicle exploded.
As he was returning to his vehicle, a bursting mortar round painfully wounded Capt. Taylor, yet he valiantly returned to his vehicle to relocate the medical evacuation landing zone to an area closer to the front lines. As he was moving his vehicle, it came under machinegun fire from an enemy position not 50 yards away. Capt. Taylor engaged the position with his machinegun, killing the 3-man crew.
Upon arrival at the new evacuation site, still another vehicle was struck. Once again Capt. Taylor rushed forward and pulled the wounded from the vehicle, loaded them aboard his vehicle, and returned them safely to the evacuation site. His actions of unsurpassed valor were a source of inspiration to his entire troop, contributed significantly to the success of the overall assault on the enemy position, and were directly responsible for saving the lives of a number of his fellow soldiers. His actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military profession and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
