Jack Clark Taylor was born on December 23, 1920. He served in the 379th Fighter Squadron, 362nd Fighter Group as a First Lieutenant during World War II. On March 16, 1945, the group flew 44 four-plane missions around Koblenz, Germany on what may have been its busiest day of the war, claiming 227 trucks, 33 horse-drawn wagons, five tanks, 29 rail cars, and two half-tracks. The area was left "a ghostly sight," according to Col. Joe Laughlin, "abandoned and wrecked equipment everywhere, woods jammed with junk but almost no sign of life or resistance." One 379th flight destroyed a pair of flak guns in the Bad Kreuznach area, but as "Lt. [Jack] Taylor and his wingman went down to strafe some vehicles coming out of a small town just south of Bingen, Lieutenant Taylor called in that he had been hit in the engine," reported Lt. Thomas Peyton. "He immediately headed northwest, trailing smoke and oil. After about three minutes he called that his oil pressure was zero and that he was going to belly in. He headed for an open field, but failed to clear the edge of a forest and crashed into the trees. The plane burned immediately upon hitting." Taylor was killed in the crash. 1LT Taylor is now buried in the Luxembourg American Cemetery, Luxembourg. He also has a cenotaph located in Indianfields Township Cemetery, Caro, Tuscola County, Michigan.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov, Thunderbolts Triumphant, The 362nd Fighter Group vs Germany's Wehrmacht