Amos J. Taylor
| Amos J. Taylor Jr | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | "Buck" |
| Born |
September 28, 1920 Philadelphia, United States |
| Died |
August 24, 2011 (aged 90) Orange City, Florida, United States |
| Allegiance |
 United States |
| Service/branch | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
| Rank |
 Technical Sergeant |
| Unit |
 Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division |
| Battles/wars | |
| Relations |
Elaine (wife) Debby Taylor Price (daughter) Joan Taylor Neal (daughter) Robert M. Taylor (son) Richard M. Taylor (son) |
Technical Sergeant Amos "Buck" Taylor (28 September 1920 – 24 August 2011[1]) was a non-commissioned officer with Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army during World War II. Taylor was one of the 140 Toccoa men of Easy Company. Taylor's life story was featured in the 2009 book We Who Are Alive and Remain: Untold Stories from Band of Brothers. Taylor served as an advisor for historical accuracy in both Stephen Ambrose's Book and the HBO mini-series Band of Brothers.[2]
Youth
Taylor was born in Philadelphia. Upon graduation, Taylor took an office job with SKF Bearings in Philadelphia for a couple of years. Then he worked for Baldwin Locomotives and worked there until June 1942.[3]
Military service
Taylor was the oldest of four brothers. His mother told them to join different branches of the army, so she would not lose all of them on the same day. All of the Taylor brothers survived the war.[4] In July 1942, Taylor enlisted and volunteered for paratroopers in Philadelphia.[5]
Taylor was assigned to Easy Company and trained in Toccoa, Georgia under Captain Herbert Sobel. Taylor, an excellent shot, and Darrell "Shifty" Powers were the only two men in Easy Company to qualify as expert riflemen.[6]
During his training at Fort Benning, Taylor went AWOL to meet with Elaine (whom he later married) in Jacksonville because his three-day pass had been cancelled by Sobel.[7] Taylor never hated Sobel, but thought he could be quite often unfair and could not be trusted for battle situations. Therefore, Taylor was one of the NCOs to participate in the mutiny initiated by Mike Ranney and Terrence "Salty" Harris in England.[8]
Taylor made his first combat jump on D-Day. He found Rod Strohl, "Shifty" Powers and William Kiehn after landing. They reunited with their own unit three or four days later, before Easy would fight in Carentan. Taylor was wounded right after the Battle of Carentan and was evacuated to a hospital in England, where he lost the camera he brought with him into Normandy.[9]
On 17 September 1944, Taylor made another jump for Operation Market Garden, which eventually failed. While Easy Company was defending "The Island", he participated in Operation Pegasus led by Frederick "Moose" Heyliger on 22 October 1944. After Easy Company had been relieved, Taylor was involved in a traffic accident and was sent to a hospital in Nijmegen.[10]
Taylor also fought in the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne. On 24 December 1944, Taylor and Earl McClung found and killed the German that shot Walter "Smokey" Gordon. In January 1945, Taylor was shot in his leg in Foy and was sent to an aid station. The wound was serious enough to end his participation in the war. He then spent 11 months in hospitals for his injury.[11]
Later years
Taylor was sent back to the States for further operation and rehabilitation. On 19 May 1945, he married Elaine while still in the rehab hospital. Elaine's wedding dress was made from Taylor's white silk reserve 'chute.[12] After his discharge in December that year, Taylor worked for the Veterans Administration in Philadelphia. Then he joined the CIA and worked there 25 years.[13]
Taylor's family had lived in Sewall's Point for 30 years, then moved to Orange City in May 2010. Taylor died on 18 August 2011, 18 days after his wife died.[14]
References
- ↑ Reeder, Cathy (11 September 2011). "Amos 'Buck' Taylor, 90, dies; longtime Sewall's Point resident and D-Day hero advised for 'Band of Brothers'". tcpalm.com. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
- ↑ http://archive.tcpalm.com/news/amos-buck-taylor-90-dies-longtime-sewalls-point-resident-and-d-day-hero-advised-for-band-of-b-ep-384-344163852.html?d=mobile
- ↑ p.7, Brotherton
- ↑ Reeder, Cathy (11 September 2011). "Amos 'Buck' Taylor, 90, dies; longtime Sewall's Point resident and D-Day hero advised for 'Band of Brothers'". tcpalm.com. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
- ↑ p.43, Brotherton
- ↑ p.72, Brotherton, 2011
- ↑ p.60, Brotherton
- ↑ p.62, Brotherton
- ↑ p.115, Brotherton
- ↑ p.135, Brotherton
- ↑ p.157, Brotherton
- ↑ Reeder, Cathy (11 September 2011). "Amos 'Buck' Taylor, 90, dies; longtime Sewall's Point resident and D-Day hero advised for 'Band of Brothers'". tcpalm.com. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
- ↑ p.217, Brotherton
- ↑ Reeder, Cathy (11 September 2011). "Amos 'Buck' Taylor, 90, dies; longtime Sewall's Point resident and D-Day hero advised for 'Band of Brothers'". tcpalm.com. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
Bibliography
- Ambrose, Stephen E. (1992). Band of Brothers: Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7434-6411-6.
- Brotherton, Marcus (2009). We Who Are Alive and Remain: Untold Stories from Band of Brothers). Berkley Trade. ISBN 0425234193.
- Brotherton, Marcus (2011). Shifty's War: The Authorized Biography of Sergeant Darrell 'Shifty' Powers, the Legendary Sharpshooter from the Band of Brothers. Berkley Caliber. ISBN 978-0-425-24097-7.