Jesse J. Taylor

Taylor and his wife Barbara had three children. Taylor's remains were returned by North Vietnam in 1975. He was buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, California.

In July 1965, LCDR Taylor was assigned to Carrier Air Wing 16 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany, and sailed to the western Pacific. He flew 16 missions between September and November, earning an Air Medal and a gold star in lieu of a second award. Selected for promotion to the rank of Commander on 1 September 1965, at the time of his death he had not been officially given the rank.

On 17 November 1965, Commander Taylor was flying his A-1 Skyraider during attacks on a key bridge near the North Vietnamese port of Haiphong. Anti-aircraft fire had downed one of the attacking aircraft and its pilot had ejected from his doomed plane in a densely populated and heavily defended area. Taylor heard the radio transmission about the pilot's plight. Although it was not his assigned mission, realizing that time was of the essence in any attempt to rescue the downed pilot, Taylor made a courageous decision. Having discovered that other rescue aircraft were occupied elsewhere, he took command of the rescue effort.

The Navy Department Board of Decorations and Medals awarded Taylor the Navy Cross for actions while serving aboard Oriskany and for actions over North Vietnam 17 November 1965 with the following citation:

Detached from that duty in July 1955, he then served as Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) instructor on the Los Angeles campus of the University of California. Following that tour, he went to Naval Air Station Pensacola for further flight instruction. The first half of 1956 saw Taylor as a flight instructor at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Milton, Florida. He then joined the staff of Chief of Naval Air Training at NAS Pensacola as Assistant Aviation Safety Officer.

Reporting for duty in January 1951, Taylor underwent flight training as a Naval Aviation Cadet (NAVCAD) and was soon designated a Naval Aviator. Commissioned an Ensign in May 1952, he went on to receive further training until he joined Composite Squadron Four (VC-4) in January 1953 as a replacement pilot and Maintenance and Material Officer.

Following his reentry into civilian life, he attended Long Beach City College for two years before going to work with several private concerns in the Los Angeles area. However, he returned to the college in 1950 and, while there, enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve shortly after Korean War began.

Jesse Junior Taylor (16 January 1925 – 17 November 1965) was a United States Navy naval aviator, Lieutenant Commander during the Vietnam War. He also served as an enlisted man during World War II. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for actions 17 November 1965 over North Vietnam. He was the namesake of USS Taylor.

Jesse Junior Taylor was born in Wichita, Kansas, on 16 January 1925 to Jesse D. Taylor of Kansas and Mabel Taylor of Nebraska. In 1935 the family lived in the Kansas City area and in 1940 they lived in the Los Angeles metro area. Taylor enlisted in the Navy after high school on 26 October 1942. He joined Bombing Squadron 11 (VB-11) as an aviation radioman and enlisted Naval Aircrewman and was deployed with the squadron to the carrier USS Hornet in September 1944. Over the following four months, VB-11 carried out a highly successful combat tour, flying 490 strike sorties against a variety of enemy targets in the Pacific. Taylor, as an aviation radioman, earned a ribbon for Hornet's Presidential Unit Citation. He served with VB-11 until discharged from the Navy on 5 February 1946.