Judy Gilford
on 5 hours ago
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Kenna Clyde Taylor was 62 years old and still serving on active duty in Vietnam.
That alone is remarkable.
Taylor was a Storekeeper First Class assigned to the Supply Division at Chu Lai under Naval Support Activity Da Nang. Born in 1908, he had already lived through an extraordinary span of American military history before arriving in Vietnam. He was a veteran of World War II and Korea, and by 1970 was still wearing the uniform as a First Class Petty Officer.
On September 21, 1970, Taylor died at Chu Lai from a reported heart attack. He is generally recognized as the oldest American serviceman to die in Vietnam. ([Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund][1])
And honestly, the rank is what gets me.
Sixty-two years old. Decades in uniform. World War II. Korea. Vietnam.
And still a First Class.
There has to be one hell of a Navy career buried inside that fact. Maybe he turned down advancement. Maybe there were breaks in service. Maybe he simply found a place in the Navy and stayed there. Whatever the explanation, Kenna Taylor was still serving alongside men young enough to be his sons, and in some cases his grandsons.
He died thousands of miles from Shadyside, Ohio, still on duty.
SK1 Kenna Clyde Taylor.
The oldest man on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
#VietnamWar #USNavy #VietnamVeterans #WorldWarII #KoreanWar #ChuLai #GhostsOfTheBattlefield
[1]: https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/51215/KENNA-C-TAYLOR/?utm_source=chatgpt.com "THE WALL OF FACES - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund"
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