Ken Taylor dies; downed enemy at Pearl Harbor

Taylor died of natural causes Nov. 25 in an assisted living home in Tucson, where he lived during the winter months, his son, Ken Taylor Jr., said Saturday.

His heroic actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, earned Taylor the Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart.

He, along with fellow pilot George Welch, were two of the first designated and decorated heroes of the war.

Born and raised in Oklahoma, Taylor attended the University of Oklahoma where he was a student for two years before he decided to join the military, Ken Taylor Jr. said.

His first assignment was in Hawaii at Wheeler Field, near Honolulu, he said. On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, Taylor woke up after partying through the night to the sound of planes flying low overhead.

As soon as Taylor made his way outside, it was clear that the Japanese were attacking, so he and Welch acted quickly, putting in a call to have their planes prepped for takeoff with ammunition and fuel, Ken Taylor Jr. said.

The pair then jumped into Taylor's Buick convertible and sped over to the Haleiwa air strip where the planes were, he said. Soon after taking off, they found themselves engaged with Japanese aircraft, Taylor's son said. Taylor would shoot down two Japanese planes.

When Taylor and Welch returned to Wheeler to reload ammunition, they were told by senior officers that they should not have gone out and that they were not to do so again, Ken Taylor Jr. said. But the Japanese began attacking Wheeler again, at which time everyone scattered and Welch and Taylor got back into their planes and took off.

This time, Taylor found himself in the middle of a fleet of Japanese aircraft, Ken Taylor Jr. said. As he was being attacked, Welch came to his aid and downed the enemy plane.

In the end, Welch would be credited with four kills and Taylor with two. An additional two for Taylor were unconfirmed, Ken Taylor Jr. said.

Taylor ended his Air Force career in the mid-1960s, his son said. He would go on to become the commander of the Alaska Air National Guard for more than three years. After a run in the aviation insurance industry, Taylor retired in 1985.

In the mid-'90s, Taylor decided to split his time between Tucson and Alaska, Ken Taylor Jr. said.

Taylor's health had been declining over the last couple of years after he broke his hip, his son said.

"He would want to be remembered mostly as a good father, husband, grandfather and great-grandfather," Ken Taylor Jr. said. "He was very loyal and dutiful and to him, that was more important than what he did in the war.

"As far as he was concerned, that was what he was trained to do. He was very fortunate to have survived that day but he was modest about it, never the type to sit around in a bar and talk about it."

There will not be any funeral services but arrangements are pending for Taylor's internment at Arlington National Cemetery, Ken Taylor Jr. said.

Taylor is survived by his wife, Flora; son Ken Taylor Jr; daughter Tina Hartley; three grandchildren and two great- grandchildren.