Lakewood To Honor Veterans On November 11 At Lakewood Park
Mayor Michael P. Summers and the Lakewood Veterans Advisory Committee will host the City of Lakewood’s Veterans Day Ceremony on Sunday, November 11, 2012 at 11 a.m. in Lakewood Park, 14532 Lake Avenue. Lakewood’s annual Veterans Day observance is a tribute to the men and women who served our country in the armed forces.
Lakewood’s Veterans Day program will begin with the Presentation of Colors followed by the singing of the National Anthem by The Four Vet Quartet.
This year’s keynote speaker is Colonel David W. Tayor. Colonel Taylor was commissioned in Infantry OCS (Ft. Benning, GA) in February 1968. After completing the Airborne and Ranger schools he was assigned to the 5th/46th Infantry Battalion, 198th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division, Vietnam, as an infantry platoon leader from February- June 1969. After recovering from wounds in Vietnam, Taylor was assigned as the OIC – Small Arms Training Committee, 3rd AIT Training Brigade, Ft. Jackson, SC. In February 1971 he left active duty and joined the BF Goodrich Company. At the same time he entered the US Army Reserve, Co C, 2nd Battalion, 11th Special Forces Group (USAR). From 1977 to early 1980, while working and living in Venezuela for BF Goodrich, Colonel Taylor performed annual training tours with Special Forces units.
From 1980 to 1984 Colonel Taylor served in joint special operations (SPECOPS) assignments as a mobilization augmentee, 1st Special Operations Command (SOCOM), assigned as a SPECOPS planner to the U.S. Southern Command, Panama. In 1984 he was assigned as the SPECOPS Officer, Army Reserve Augmentation, U.S. Forces Caribbean (Key West, FL). From 1988 to 1990 Colonel Taylor was appointed Chief, Unit Training Division and later, Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, Training, HQ, 83rd U.S. Army Reserve Command. He assumed command of the USAR Augmentation, U.S. Forces Caribbean on July 1, 1990 and later transitioned the unit to become the Army Reserve Augmentation, U.S. Atlantic Command (USLANTCOM). While performing active duty tours at the Atlantic Command, Colonel Taylor was the Executive Assistant to the Deputy Commander-In-Chief (D/CINC) / USLANTCOM. Taylor’s unit was subsequently awarded the Joint Services Meritorious Unit Commendation.
Colonel Taylor retired from the USAR in 1993. His awards and decorations include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Two Purple Hearts, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, two Army Meritorious Service Medals, Army Commendation Medal, Joint Services Achievement Medal, The Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB), Special Forces Tab, Ranger Tab and Airborne Wings. In June 2011, he published his first book, Our War. The History and Sacrifices of an Infantry Battalion in the Vietnam War 1968-1971. It is a 722-page history of his infantry battalion in Vietnam and is the only historical account of a battalion in the Vietnam War written in a narrative style.
Other highlights of this year’s program include performances by the Lakewood High School Band, The Four Vet Quartet and a 21-gun salute by the Joint Veterans Honor Guard. The Veterans Day Ceremony is free and open to the public. Following the ceremony, coffee and doughnuts will be offered in the Woman’s Club Pavilion at Lakewood Park.