| HOME ABOUT US UNIFORM & EQUIPMENT HISTORY EVENT PICTURES FUTURE EVENTS BOOKS HEROES LANDINGCRAFT CONTACTS LINKS |
| Col. George A. Taylor. 16th Infantry Regiment |
George Arthur Taylor was born 14 February 1899 in Illinois. He became a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point on 13 June 1922. His career during the inter war
years could be characterized as an unusually long string of infantry assignments beginning with the 23rd Infantry at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He would then serve with the 35th Infantry in
Hawaii from 1924-27, the 4th Infantry in Fort Lawton, Washington and Fort Abraham Lincoln in North Dakota from 1927-28, the 30th Infantry Presidio in San Francisco, California from
1928-33, the 38th Infantry in Fort Douglas, Utah from 1934-37, finally taking a break from troop duty when he attended the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth from
1937-38. He returned to more infantry assignments with the Filipino Scout unit of the 57th Infantry Regiment at Fort William McKinley, then as the Intelligence Officer of the 1st Battalion
16th Infantry from November 1940 to June 1941. He became the assistant chief of staff of the Caribbean Force from June-July of 1941. After that went on to instruct tactics at the Infantry
School in Fort Benning, Georgia from July 1941 to August 1942. He then became assigned to the North African Theater of Operations from August 1942 to January 1943 initially as a staff
member for the Advanced Echelon Amphibious Forces, Atlantic Fleet and in October the a staff member to the Naval Operating Base Commander in Oran. In February 1943, he took brief
command of the 26th Infantry Regiment in North Africa. On 20 April 1943, he took command of the 16th Infantry Regiment replacing Col. Frechet where he would remain for the most of
the war until he was promoted to Brigadier General in 1944 and assigned as the assistant division commander of the 4th Infantry Division and eventually returning to the 1st Division as its
assistant division commander.
As commander of the 16th Infantry Regiment, he would lead his men to drive Rommel out of North Africa, to the amphibious assault on the Gulf of Gela in the invasion of Sicily including
facing the Hermann Goring Division in a desperate tank battle. His finest moment of the war came at Easy Red of Omaha Beach in Normandy, where the 1st Division was bogged down by
intense machine gun and artillery fire by fortified positions of bunkers of battle-hardened German 352nd Division. Sometime around 0800 on June 6, 1944 the 47 year old Col. Taylor
arrived on an LCM with the second wave of Combat Team 16 command post. While the craft came under heavy enemy machine and mortar fire on the way in, he was relatively
unharassed while he waded ashore in waist deep water. Col. Taylor was able to observe that the entire assaulting element was pinned down on the beach in stake of disorganized chaos
following the death of the Executive Officer Lt. Col. Matthews along with the Supply Officer Major Godfrey. He immediately gathered what remained of his company and battalion
commanders at the forward CP on the beach and ordered them to lead their
men off the beach that had become a kill zone under constant enemy fire. When Lt. Spauldings section from Company E was able to penetrate the German coastal defenses, Col. Taylor
rallied his troops to Exit E-1 by uttering one of the most famous lines of the war, There are only two kinds of people who are staying on this beach: those who are dead and those who are
going to die. Now lets get the hell out of here! Under the command of Col. Taylor CT 16 advanced 300 yards inland, where over the next 24 hours he was able to consolidate his position
and repel German counterattacks, successfully securing a beach head on Omaha.
He continued to fight with the 16th Infantry in France, until he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and replaced Frederick Gibb as the assistant division commander of the 4th
Infantry Division. He would campaign from Paris, to the capture of Remagen Bridge, to the Harz Mountains and the Elbe River. He returned to the 1st division in October of 1944 as its
assistant division commander. His career culminated, when he accepted the surrender of 70,000 German soldiers in the city of Elbogen, Sudetenland, which he changed back to its name
before the Nazi invasion in official papers to Loket, Czechoslovakia earning the respect of the Czech people. He retired in 1946 from war related disabilities. He died at the age of 70 on 3
December 1969 in Palo Alto, California as a result from a prolonged illness caused by a stroke in 1960
U. S. Army Historical Division, interview June 21 1944:
Col. Taylor came in with the Rear Cp with the essential regimental staff and personnel. The rest was with Lt. Col. John Matthews [X), 16th Infantry]. The coxswain went into Exit E-3 and
was fired on. Col. Taylor had the coxswain pull out and get in at a more favorable spot. The tide was one-half in. [Taylor's group was] fired on while wading up to their necks. It was a
helpless feeling wading while shot at,[said Taylor]. The shore battalion and engineers were behind the [shingle] and there was little firing from our troops. There was a state of confusion.
The troops there lined up on the beach like cons in a store room. There was nothing official from anybody. All were interested in holding-in and keeping out of the fire. Taylor move to Exit
E-3 and found that [Matthews Advanced CP] had been hit. The men were intermingled on the beach. They couldn't get anywhere until we stopped the fire from the strongpoints.
Balkoski, Jospeph, Omaha Beach:
D-Day June 6, 1944, p. 198.
Personal Account of Pvt. Warren Rulien and Pvt. Rual Radzam:
He [Col. Taylor] stopped across the sandbar and bullets began hitting the ware around him. He laid down on this stomach and started crawling toward shore, his staff officers doing the
same. He has a couple of tattered-ass second louies following him. They looked like they were scared to death. When Taylor made it to the seawall, he told the other officers, ˜If were
going to die, lets die up there." To the other groups of men, Taylor said, There are only two kinds of people on this beach: the dead and those about to die: So let's get the hell out of
here.
-Ambrose, Stephen E., D-Day June 6 1944:
Personal Account of Donal Scribner:
“Sgt. William Lindsay was in a concrete pillbox when it received two direct hits from 5-inch shells. He lost a tooth and was knocked silly by the concussion. Three times during the day
he had to be stopped by fellow rangers from walking off the cliff. That evening, he confronted Colonel Taylor of the 16th. Red-faced, cursing, he accused Taylor of stealing his rifle. All the
while he had the rifle slung over his shoulder. This gave the rangers who saw it a laugh
Col. George Taylor Distinguished Service Cross Citation, June 14, 1944:
Col. George A. Taylor, in command of the 16th RCT, landed during the most crucial, threatening period of the operation. Thousands of leaderless men lay huddled on the seven-yard
beachhead, their organization disastrously cut down by fire. The exists were blocked, supporting weapons had not or could not be landed or were already destroyed, and the attack was
arrested. Without hesitation, unmindful of the snipers and machine gun fire directed at him, Taylor moved up and own the beach, continuously exposing himself to murderous fire. He
found officers and gather groups of men together for them to lead. He found, led, and drove men into the action. Calmly and coolly he assigned objectives to these newly organized
groups. He converted a bewildered mob into a coordinated fighting force.
years could be characterized as an unusually long string of infantry assignments beginning with the 23rd Infantry at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He would then serve with the 35th Infantry in
Hawaii from 1924-27, the 4th Infantry in Fort Lawton, Washington and Fort Abraham Lincoln in North Dakota from 1927-28, the 30th Infantry Presidio in San Francisco, California from
1928-33, the 38th Infantry in Fort Douglas, Utah from 1934-37, finally taking a break from troop duty when he attended the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth from
1937-38. He returned to more infantry assignments with the Filipino Scout unit of the 57th Infantry Regiment at Fort William McKinley, then as the Intelligence Officer of the 1st Battalion
16th Infantry from November 1940 to June 1941. He became the assistant chief of staff of the Caribbean Force from June-July of 1941. After that went on to instruct tactics at the Infantry
School in Fort Benning, Georgia from July 1941 to August 1942. He then became assigned to the North African Theater of Operations from August 1942 to January 1943 initially as a staff
member for the Advanced Echelon Amphibious Forces, Atlantic Fleet and in October the a staff member to the Naval Operating Base Commander in Oran. In February 1943, he took brief
command of the 26th Infantry Regiment in North Africa. On 20 April 1943, he took command of the 16th Infantry Regiment replacing Col. Frechet where he would remain for the most of
the war until he was promoted to Brigadier General in 1944 and assigned as the assistant division commander of the 4th Infantry Division and eventually returning to the 1st Division as its
assistant division commander.
As commander of the 16th Infantry Regiment, he would lead his men to drive Rommel out of North Africa, to the amphibious assault on the Gulf of Gela in the invasion of Sicily including
facing the Hermann Goring Division in a desperate tank battle. His finest moment of the war came at Easy Red of Omaha Beach in Normandy, where the 1st Division was bogged down by
intense machine gun and artillery fire by fortified positions of bunkers of battle-hardened German 352nd Division. Sometime around 0800 on June 6, 1944 the 47 year old Col. Taylor
arrived on an LCM with the second wave of Combat Team 16 command post. While the craft came under heavy enemy machine and mortar fire on the way in, he was relatively
unharassed while he waded ashore in waist deep water. Col. Taylor was able to observe that the entire assaulting element was pinned down on the beach in stake of disorganized chaos
following the death of the Executive Officer Lt. Col. Matthews along with the Supply Officer Major Godfrey. He immediately gathered what remained of his company and battalion
commanders at the forward CP on the beach and ordered them to lead their
men off the beach that had become a kill zone under constant enemy fire. When Lt. Spauldings section from Company E was able to penetrate the German coastal defenses, Col. Taylor
rallied his troops to Exit E-1 by uttering one of the most famous lines of the war, There are only two kinds of people who are staying on this beach: those who are dead and those who are
going to die. Now lets get the hell out of here! Under the command of Col. Taylor CT 16 advanced 300 yards inland, where over the next 24 hours he was able to consolidate his position
and repel German counterattacks, successfully securing a beach head on Omaha.
He continued to fight with the 16th Infantry in France, until he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and replaced Frederick Gibb as the assistant division commander of the 4th
Infantry Division. He would campaign from Paris, to the capture of Remagen Bridge, to the Harz Mountains and the Elbe River. He returned to the 1st division in October of 1944 as its
assistant division commander. His career culminated, when he accepted the surrender of 70,000 German soldiers in the city of Elbogen, Sudetenland, which he changed back to its name
before the Nazi invasion in official papers to Loket, Czechoslovakia earning the respect of the Czech people. He retired in 1946 from war related disabilities. He died at the age of 70 on 3
December 1969 in Palo Alto, California as a result from a prolonged illness caused by a stroke in 1960
U. S. Army Historical Division, interview June 21 1944:
Col. Taylor came in with the Rear Cp with the essential regimental staff and personnel. The rest was with Lt. Col. John Matthews [X), 16th Infantry]. The coxswain went into Exit E-3 and
was fired on. Col. Taylor had the coxswain pull out and get in at a more favorable spot. The tide was one-half in. [Taylor's group was] fired on while wading up to their necks. It was a
helpless feeling wading while shot at,[said Taylor]. The shore battalion and engineers were behind the [shingle] and there was little firing from our troops. There was a state of confusion.
The troops there lined up on the beach like cons in a store room. There was nothing official from anybody. All were interested in holding-in and keeping out of the fire. Taylor move to Exit
E-3 and found that [Matthews Advanced CP] had been hit. The men were intermingled on the beach. They couldn't get anywhere until we stopped the fire from the strongpoints.
Balkoski, Jospeph, Omaha Beach:
D-Day June 6, 1944, p. 198.
Personal Account of Pvt. Warren Rulien and Pvt. Rual Radzam:
He [Col. Taylor] stopped across the sandbar and bullets began hitting the ware around him. He laid down on this stomach and started crawling toward shore, his staff officers doing the
same. He has a couple of tattered-ass second louies following him. They looked like they were scared to death. When Taylor made it to the seawall, he told the other officers, ˜If were
going to die, lets die up there." To the other groups of men, Taylor said, There are only two kinds of people on this beach: the dead and those about to die: So let's get the hell out of
here.
-Ambrose, Stephen E., D-Day June 6 1944:
Personal Account of Donal Scribner:
“Sgt. William Lindsay was in a concrete pillbox when it received two direct hits from 5-inch shells. He lost a tooth and was knocked silly by the concussion. Three times during the day
he had to be stopped by fellow rangers from walking off the cliff. That evening, he confronted Colonel Taylor of the 16th. Red-faced, cursing, he accused Taylor of stealing his rifle. All the
while he had the rifle slung over his shoulder. This gave the rangers who saw it a laugh
Col. George Taylor Distinguished Service Cross Citation, June 14, 1944:
Col. George A. Taylor, in command of the 16th RCT, landed during the most crucial, threatening period of the operation. Thousands of leaderless men lay huddled on the seven-yard
beachhead, their organization disastrously cut down by fire. The exists were blocked, supporting weapons had not or could not be landed or were already destroyed, and the attack was
arrested. Without hesitation, unmindful of the snipers and machine gun fire directed at him, Taylor moved up and own the beach, continuously exposing himself to murderous fire. He
found officers and gather groups of men together for them to lead. He found, led, and drove men into the action. Calmly and coolly he assigned objectives to these newly organized
groups. He converted a bewildered mob into a coordinated fighting force.