The Patriot Post® · Profiles of Valor: Thanksgiving
California native James Allen Taylor signed up to serve our nation at age 19. He enlisted in the Army and was commissioned as an officer in 1965. On November 9, 1967, then-1LT Taylor was executive officer of Troop B, 1st Squadron, 1ST Cavalry unit in Vietnam. On the battlefield west of Que Son, Taylor repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire in order to rescue crewmen from damaged assault vehicles and personnel carriers. For his extraordinary actions on that day, he was awarded the Medal of Honor and his full citation can be read here.
Ahead of Thanksgiving five years ago, now-retired MAJ Taylor penned a timeless reminder about Thanksgiving:
Coming home on Thanksgiving is a great American tradition — a fact that is true even when we may not be coming back to the Norman Rockwell version of Thanksgiving. Yes, we all have a relative or two we sometimes could do without. But for one day out of the year, we still come together as a family.
This year we’re coming together in divisive times. There will be more than a few arguments around the table. Some unkind words may be said. But in time they’ll be forgiven or forgotten. What really matters — family — will soften any short-lived unpleasantness.
I remember coming home at a particularly difficult time for America. It was 50 years ago, during the Vietnam War era, when things were far more contentious than they are today. My friends and I went to war because that was what young men did back then. Tens of thousands of my fellow soldiers returned with grievous wounds, and far too many never saw home again. We didn’t think much about geopolitical strategy in Southeast Asia. For the most part, we fought for our friends, families, and comrades in arms. We fought to come home. But some of us came home to a place where that kind of service was no longer honored.
In 1968, America was torn by political violence that cut down our most charismatic leaders, racial conflict so raw it set whole cities on fire, a social upheaval so revolutionary that our culture has never been the same. But, through it all, we remained a nation indivisible. Over time, the heat cooled and we went back to being a family again.
Today we need another reminder of what makes us one American family. The temper of the times is hot again, stoked by technology and an information age that amplifies our disputes and celebrates our divisions. There seems to be no common ground where we can all say, “this is who we are.”
This Thanksgiving we’ll observe the usual national rituals, a big meal and maybe football on the TV. And there will likely be the usual debates and sharp words. But let’s remember that we are, in a sense, a big and varied family — together in an often inhospitable world. We are home for this uniquely American holiday thanks to the sacrifices of friends and neighbors who answered the call to defend what makes us a nation. God bless our troops and God bless America.
Indeed, we should remember those generations gone before and those warriors and Veterans among us now – those whom we ALL owe an eternal debt of gratitude for the freedoms too many take for granted.
MAJ James Allen Taylor, your example of valor — an American Patriot defending your fellow warriors and Liberty for all above and beyond the call of duty and disregarding the peril to your own life — is eternal.
On June 6, 1984 at Pointe du Hoc on Normandy beach in France, the 40th anniversary of the Normandy invasion, Ronald Reagan delivered one of his most memorable tributes to his Greatest Generation of American Patriots — words that resonate for all generations.
He closed his remarks about “the boys of Pointe du Hoc” by saying, “Strengthened by their courage, heartened by their valor, and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died.”
Moreover, we should all live our lives worthy of the great sacrifices of generations before us.
This Thanksgiving, please join us with a heart of gratitude in prayer for our nation’s Military Patriots and Veterans, and their families.
“Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776
The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring Their Sacrifice Foundation and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation.