|
Untitled document
By PATRICK MEIGHAN, Staff Writer
Nashua Telegraph, March 12, 2012
NASHUA – Some were faded yellow. Others were sharp and clear despite a half-century of age. And still, every one of the thick stack of black and white photographs was striking.
The photos showed a young Charles Taylor, his 6-foot-6-inch frame more impressive for his U.S. Army uniform. Some photos showed Taylor serving in Korea with the 17th Infantry unit.
"The Veterans Administration told me they had no proof he was a medic. I knew where these were, so there was the proof," said Taylor's widow, Dorothy "Dot" Taylor.
Charles Taylor died June 1, 2010, at age 77.
Monday morning, Dorothy Taylor, three of the Taylors' five daughters, two of their three sons, and two of their 17 grandchildren – but not their one great-grandchild – gathered on East Pearl Street downtown to honor Charles Taylor.
Congressman Charlie Bass, R-N.H., presented Dorothy Taylor with three medals and a presidential citation that Taylor earned during his two-year tour of duty during the Korean War.
Taylor earned the Korean Service Medal with one Bronze Star, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service and the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation. His medals were lost after he became ill, according to Bass's office.
The presidential citation was something that the South Korean president frequently awarded to U.S. soldiers who fought during the Korean War.
Medics, such as Taylor, who treated Korean soldiers and civilians were especially revered, Dorothy Taylor said.
Charles Taylor didn't speak much of his experience in Korea, his children said. But he was proud of having served his country, they said.
That was evident throughout their 52-year marriage, Dorothy Taylor said.
He kept his Army uniform for years, until it got lost somewhere between Wilmington, Mass., where the Taylors raised their children, Bridgewater, N.H., where Charles and Dorothy retired to, and the elderly housing condo in Nashua where they later lived.
"Dad, can I use this for Halloween?" the kids sometimes asked when they were young.
"Don't touch it!" Charles Taylor would respond.
He revered his uniform, Dorthy Taylor said.
"He was too damn busy" to dwell on his wartime experiences, said his daughter, Cherie Keegan, of Pepperell, Mass. "He was constantly busy, building our home, building our vacation home."
After the war, Charles Taylor worked as regional sales manager for a Texas company that sold construction material.
"That's one thing that can be said about my Dad. He was a very hard worker," said daughter Katherine Arlander of Danvers, Mass.
She also described him as a loving man dedicated to his family.
Son Tom Taylor, of Stoneham, Mass., served in Iraq as a member of the National Guard. His brother, William Taylor, of Billerica, Mass., attended the medal presentation. Another son, Charles Taylor, Jr., couldn't attend because he was on duty as a firefighter in Wilmington, Mass.
Besides Keegan and Arlander, a third daughter, Barbara Lucis, of Bridgewater, attended. Jane Tometich of Dunstable, Mass., and Susan Gasser of Vienna, Va., couldn't make it,
The family thanked Bass for obtaining the lost medals, and for all the support he's given to veterans. Dorothy Taylor specifically thanked Leigh Ann Shriver, a Bass staff member whose job it is to help families obtain missing medals.
It's a job that Shriver, of Colorado Springs, Colo., has done for years for other congressmen.
"It's something a congressional office can do. It's very difficult for a citizen to do it," Shriver said.
Bass shows Dorothy Taylor of Nashua, widow of Charles Taylor, the medals her husband received for his service in the Korean War as a medic.
|
