THE WALL OF FACES

Spec 4 Jack Taylor is buried at Schuyler Lake Cemetery.

Dear Sp4 Jack Taylor, Thank you for your service as a Petroleum Supply Specialist. The 52nd anniversary of the start of your tour was this month. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Independence Day is next Monday. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it still needs your strength, courage, guidance and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

Near midnight on July 25, 1970, a reaction force comprised of U.S. Marines and U.S. Army soldiers were returning to Marine Corps Air Facility (MCAF) Marble Mountain Airfield, a small helicopter base about 11 miles south of Da Nang in Quang Nam Province, RVN. The group was coming back from a reaction drill in M54 5-ton 6x6 trucks when motorcycles ridden by local Vietnamese nationals abruptly entered the highway. The driver of a 6x6 swerved to avoid a collision, and in doing so lost control of his vehicle and it overturned on its top. Two Marines from Marine Air Base Squadron 16 (MABS-16), PFC Darwin O. Brandon and CPL Alton L. Stegall, and a soldier, SP4 Jack E. Taylor, were killed in the incident. SP4 Taylor, from the 62nd Aviation Company, and had been one of three Army personnel assigned to the Marble Mountain reaction force. Five other Marines were injured. A personal account of the incident is provided by Jerry Flynn (edited for clarity): (CPL) Stegall and I were not close friends, I only knew him by his last name. He was in my company but not in my platoon. On the night before his death, he and his reactionary platoon deployed to a position we called “between the mountains.” It was a position that frequently came under ground attack. After midnight, the “six-by” trucks that transported the reactionaries were returning to base. Close to the front gate, two young Vietnamese men on motorcycles bolted out of the darkness in front of the truck in which Stegall and about nine other men were riding in. Stegall and two others died immediately. I was Corporal of the Guard responsible for the gate, including the perimeter positions next to both sides of the gate that night. (I believe) it was not an accident that killed Stegall and the Americans who died with him, instead it was a hostile act. Immediately after the Vietnamese men caused the truck to flip, they began to pick the pockets of the injured and dead Marines, and at least one picked up a weapon. My man on the tower had a good view of the scene and the entire incident. He also saw how the Vietnamese men who caused the truck to flip reacted afterwards, which is why he took them under fire and killed two of them. Two accomplices were wounded and later died. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and information provided by Jerry Flynn at thewall-usa.com (October 2013) and by email (May 2018)]

Dear SP4 Jack Edwin Taylor, sir

As an American, I would like to thank you for your service and for your sacrifice made on behalf of our wonderful country. The youth of today could gain much by learning of heroes such as yourself, men and women whose courage and heart can never be questioned.

May God allow you to read this, and may He allow me to someday shake your hand when I get to Heaven to personally thank you. May he also allow my father to find you and shake your hand now to say thank you; for America, and for those who love you.

With respect, and the best salute a civilian can muster for you, Sir

Curt Carter

Spec. 4 Jack Taylor’s unit temporarily assigned him to Zulu Company, which was primarily a USMC unit. One of the duties of Zulu Company was to reinforce Marine Corps infantry units that occasionally came under fire within out area of operation. Jack was serving with his reactionary platoon on such a mission the night of his KIA.
As Jack’s unit was returning to base, at a point on Highway 1 just outside of MMAF's perimeter wire, two Vietnamese men on motorcycles bolted across the road in front of the truck in which Jack, and his squad were riding. The surprise caused the driver to lose control, overturning the vehicle. Six-by trucks were famous for being top-heavy, and easily flipped. The Vietnamese knew this, and they used this very tactic to cause Jack’s truck to overturn. Jack and two Marines died at the scene. This was not an accident but a hostile act.
I was Corporal of the Guard for the perimeter position where the incident occurred. When I arrived, in addition to the dead and injured Americans, there were four Vietnamese down. The Marine in a tower overlooking the scene, shot and killed the two Vietnamese men who were on the motorcycles. Two of the injured Americans were still shooting at Vietnamese men who were attempting to loot the dead and wounded Americans. They had apparently wounded two others in addition to the two who were on the motorcycles. The two wounded Vietnamese men died later at the scene. The Corpsmen refused to treat them until they had finished treating and removing the dead and injured Americans.
I did not know Jack Taylor other than by sight. Spec. 5 Gary J. Zinghy, who, in spite of his severe injuries, was one of the two soldiers still firing when I arrived on the scene. Gary Zinghy gave me Specialist Taylor’s name. The incident happened around midnight, July 25, 1970. Because of the midnight timing, the Marine Corps reported it as occurring on 26 July, and the Army recorded it as 25 July.