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Jerome
Taylor
Taylor
PFC · · 11B10 · Infantryman
KIA
In-Country Service
1969-08-22 –
Home of Record
Battle Creek, Calhoun County, MI
Character of Service
Honorable
Archive Status
Active
Service timeline not yet compiled. If you served with or knew Jerome Taylor, please use the contribute form to share what you remember.
1969-08-22
Arrived
Arrived in Vietnam — August 22, 1969
PFC Jerome Taylor began his tour with D Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry (Airmobile), 1st Cavalry Division, Republic of Vietnam.
1969-10-08
Non-Hostile — Drowned
Lost in a river crossing — October 8, 1969
On October 8, 1969, PFC Jerome Taylor drowned in the Song Be River when the boat carrying his squad capsized during a river-crossing operation in Phuoc Binh Province. Taylor, PFC Joseph Benson, and CPL Albert Altizer — all members of Third Squad, wearing full combat gear — had boarded the first of two boats, with twelve other men, for a platoon-sized patrol. About fifty feet from shore the craft began taking on water as it accelerated; the lieutenant in charge ordered the men to drop their packs, but the boat capsized. The men clung to the overturned hull while the second boat ferried survivors to the Song Be Bridge. A head count found Taylor, Benson, and Altizer missing. A shoreline search that afternoon recovered the bodies of Taylor and Benson; Altizer was never found. Taylor was 21 years old and had been in Vietnam about seven weeks. See /events/river-crossing-song-be-1969-10-08/.
1969-10-08
Casualty record
Song Be River, Binh Duong Province, III Corps, RVN — vicinity grid coordinate XT 921 449
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