Taylor LawrenceCoburn

United States Marine Corps aviator who was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for actions during World War II in which he died at age 22. Lieutenant Taylor was killed in combat during the Solomon Islands campaign in the Summer of 1942. He was awarded the Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry while serving with Marine Fighting Squadron 212 (VMF-212) on 24 August 1942. Taylor manned a Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat (Bureau Number 02084) and took off from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal at 1415 hrs to intercept six Nakajima B5N torpedo bombers that had been launched from the Japanese aircraft carrier Ryūjō. These were escorted by nine Mitsubishi A6M2 Zeros. When this aircraft failed to return, Taylor was officially listed as Missing In Action (MIA). Link to Wikipedia biography Read less