Phillip Earl Taylor

Specialist Four Phillip Earl Taylor was killed in action on September 18, 1966 in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

Phillip Earl Taylor was born on April 25, 1947 in Henderson, North Carolina, the son of Dennis Millard Taylor and Rosa Lee Allen Taylor.

SP4 Taylor was inducted into the U.S. Army on March 23, 1965 and was deployed to Vietnam in  July, 1965 serving in Company C, 1st Battalion, 327th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. 

The 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division landed at Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam on July 29, 1965.  It was the third unit to be shipped to the new war zone and was comprised of the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 327th Infantry and the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry.

After a brief period in which the Soldiers acclimated themselves and received all their equipment, the 1st Brigade went into action.  For the rest of 1965, the Brigade mounted patrols and interdicted enemy supply lines.

The year 1966 began with the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry at Phan Rang to conduct Operation Seagull in Ninh Thuan Province. Following the rice harvest, extensive sweeping and patrolling operations were carried out in surrounding jungle regions and into the treacherous mountains.  

On April 25, 1966, 1-327 was moved to the monsoon swept jungles of Quang Duc Province, 85 miles northwest of Saigon to conduct spoiling attacks against NVA concentrations along the Cambodian border prior to the onslaught of the monsoons. For six days the 1-327 and 2-502 both operating clandestinely, scoured the thick jungles along the Cambodian border with no contact.

On the 10th of May, 1966, the 1-327 overran and destroyed a large and elaborate Viet Cong complex consisting of a provincial headquarters, and a prisoner of war camp.

From June 2 through June 21, 1966 the 1-327 was engaged in Operation Hawthorne near the village of Toumorong. The 1st Brigade was moved from An Khe to Dak To, a base camp in the northern area of South Vietnam.  Here a South Vietnamese force was surrounded by the 24th North Vietnamese Regiment.   The 1st Brigade was ordered in to reinforce the South Vietnamese position.  On the morning of June 7, 1966, a North Vietnamese Battalion of the 24th NVA Regiment attacked an artillery-infantry-engineer position in the valley west of Toumorong. This was the beginning of two weeks of the most violent fighting of the war in Vietnam. The charging enemy was able to penetrate the perimeter but the ensuing battle left 86 enemy bodies, 13 of them inside the artillery position.

After relieving the Toumorong outpost, the Battalion struck north, and another bitter battle erupted, this time engaging all three of the battalion’s infantry companies at one time, each in separate fire fights. It was to last for six bloody days.  On Monday morning, June 13, 1966, while the mountain mist was slowly rising from the valley, 24 waves of bombers created a maze of craters below. As the 1-327 and 2-502 swept into the hills to clean up what was left, they found a systematic series of tunnels, some going as deep as 50 feet, but they also found among the dead and dying, several score who fought on. The final act of Operation Hawthorne was ferreting out and killing or capturing the diehards. The 24th NVA Regiment was rendered ineffective as a fighting unit, suffering over 1200 casualties by body count. The soldiers of 1st Brigade (Separate) pursued the enemy and several large-scale air attacks were called in. Hundreds of enemy soldiers were killed but the 24th NVA Regiment managed to escape into Laos. 

After fighting at Dak To, the 1-327 returned to Tuy Hoa opening Highway 1 south to Vung Ro Bay. Search and destroy operations were continued in the Tuy Hoa Valley as the highway clearing took place.  SP4 Taylor was killed in action on September 18, 1966.

Specialist Four Phillip Earl Taylor is buried in the Saint James Baptist Church Cemetery in Henderson, Vance County, North Carolina. His name is inscribed on Panel 10E, line 115 of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. 

Last edited: 8 June 2026