As the only child in a working-class family, Fred Taylor was raised in Galveston, Indiana, a small town of about 1,500 people in America’s Heartland.  His father, Frederick A. Taylor Sr., worked for 36 years with Chrysler, and his mother, Ruth, worked for 32 years in the Delco division of General Motors.

In the early sixties, Fred attended Lewis Cass High School 7 miles north of Galveston in the town of Walton, Indiana.  He served as Class President during both his freshman and sophomore years and was heavily involved in sports. 

        After graduating from High School, and with a war raging in Vietnam, Fred volunteered for the draft and served in the United States Army.  In early 1968, as the conflict in Vietnam intensified, the Army assigned him to Fort Campbell, Kentucky to begin basic training.  Upon completion of basic training, he transferred to Fort McClellan for infantry training.  On March 25, 1968, Fred left for Vietnam as a member of the famous 1st Cavalry Division, Airmobile. 

In April of 1968, the 1st Cavalry Division was deployed to conduct an airmobile offensive in A Shau Valley in the western Thua Thien province of South Vietnam.  On the morning of April 19, 1968, the 1st Cavalry Division, in concert with the 101st Airborne Division and friendly Vietnamese forces, began a reconnaissance in force mission dubbed Operation DELAWARE.  On April 29, grenade shrapnel struck Fred in the right leg.  His injuries required a weeklong stay in the hospital, several weeks of rehabilitation, and earned him the first of his three Purple Hearts.

Operation DELAWARE was so successful that General William Bradford Rosson labeled it “one of the most audacious, skillfully executed and successful combat undertakings of the Vietnam War.”

Two months later, while on patrol along the border of the Quang Tri Province during Operation JEB STUART III, a large chunk of artillery shrapnel ripped through Fred’s right shoulder, briefly paralyzing him.  Shortly thereafter, in yet another intense exchange with the enemy, Fred suffered near fatal injuries after rounds from an AK-47 and a machine gun tore through his right leg and left foot.

Following seven months of intense treatment, Fred left the hospital and retired from the US Army.  His heroic service to our country is documented in Steve Amm’s “The Ballad of Fred Taylor.”

After returning home to Indiana, Fred earned his Bachelors Degree in Education from Indiana University and would later earn a graduate Certificate in Public Management in Hospital Administration and his Masters Degree in Education. 

He continued his services to our country, working as a National Service Officer with the Disabled American Veterans, serving as Director of Veterans Services for the state of Indiana, and as Medicaid Director for the Indiana Department of Health.

In 1974, the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, General Creighton Abrams, selected Fred to serve on the national Army Chief of Staff’s Advisory Council.  Additionally, Fred worked with the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. 

In 2000, the Military Order of the Purple Heart elected Fred to the post of National Commander.  As National Commander, he advocated for veterans’ issues and worked with both the Clinton and Bush administrations.

Fred moved to Florida in 2002 to care for his widowed mother.  He formed Interim LTC Services Inc. and worked as a Nursing Home Consultant. Currently, Fred is employed as a business broker for Florida Business Intermediaries, LLC. Fred and his wife Patty, who is a nurse at Hernando-Pasco Hospice, and their daughter reside in New Port Richey.