Kenneth Marlar Taylor was a United States Air Force officer and a flying ace of World War II. He was a new United States Army Air Corps second lieutenant pilot stationed at Wheeler Field during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Along with his fellow pilot and friend George Welch, Taylor managed to get a fighter plane airborne under fire. Taylor claimed to have shot down four Japanese dive bombers but only two were confirmed. Taylor was injured during the incident and received several awards for his efforts, including the Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart.
Major Kenneth M. Taylor, c. 1945
A Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk similar to the planes used by Taylor and Welch
Taylor and Welch shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack
Taylor receiving the Distinguished Service Cross on January 8, 1942, for his efforts
George Schwartz Welch was a World War II flying ace, a Medal of Honor nominee, and an experimental aircraft pilot after the war. Welch is best known for having been one of the few United States Army Air Corps fighter pilots able to get airborne to engage Japanese forces in the attack on Pearl Harbor and for his work as a test pilot. Welch resigned from the United States Army Air Forces as a major in 1944, and became a test pilot for North American Aviation.
George Welch (pilot)
Senator James H. Hughes (D-del.); Mrs. Hughes; Mrs. Julia Welch Schwartz and Mr. George L. Schwartz, Welch's parents; and Lieutenant Welch shaking hands with President Roosevelt, 1942
A replica P-40 being moved for display at Wheeler Army Airfield, with markings identical to the one flown by Welch.
