By Payton Tholstrup

On November 1st, 2024, at 11:00 a.m., Fort Riley and the 1st Infantry Division will conduct a renaming ceremony at Smoky Hill Road. Col. Matthew J. Hardman will host the ceremony in honor of Capt. Larry Taylor, 1st Infantry Division Medal of Honor recipient, and Smoky Hill Road’s new name will be Taylor Street.

In 2023, President Joe Biden awarded the Medal of Honor to Taylor. Taylor is known for his heroic actions in Vietnam, which he originally received a Silver Star for. On June 18th, 1968, while serving as a Bell AH1-G attack helicopter pilot in the 1st Infantry Division, a horn sounded. Pilots hurried to fly their helicopters to a rice paddy located south of Ap Go Cong Du’o’ng Province of the Vietnam Republic.

Taylor soon learned the coordinates led to a four-man long-range reconnaissance patrol team that was outnumbered by the enemy and surrounded. Thinking fast, he decided to exhaust his ammunition to protect the soldiers, shutting off the lights from the helicopter to conceal himself.

He instructed a soldier to throw his last four claymore mines so everyone could run to the helicopter.

The helicopter, which was only designed for two people, rescued four additional people on its landing gear, something that had never been attempted before.

During his time serving, Taylor flew in 1,200 combat missions and earned a total of 61 combat decorations. He passed away on January 28th, 2024, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. His legacy still lives on to this day in the 1st Infantry Division.