LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville native who fought in World War II and the Korean War shared a final wish with extended family and friends during his final days on Earth.
On Sunday, two months after his death, that wish was granted. Wallace Taylor returned to his old Kentucky home to be buried next to his mother.
When Taylor died in February in Florida, there was no one to claim his body. The U.S. Army veteran outlived all of his direct relatives but was loved and appreciated by a lot of people.
"When I talked to him about his final wishes, he just wanted to be next to his mother," said Melissa Scharber, Taylor’s friend. "I was with him every day during the last month of his life, from his stay in the hospital, to rehab, to hospice."
Wallace Taylor, a Louisville native who served in the U.S. Army during World War II and the Korean War.
Friends like Scharber and fellow veterans stepped up to bring Taylor back to Louisville to make his wish come true.
"A group of people from the veterans hospital in Tampa and Combat Vets and other organizations in Florida, they got this all together," said David Ballard a ride captain with Patriot Guard. "We don't like to see any veteran go out without representation. His generation is the greatest generation we've ever had. We'd all be speaking another language right now if it wasn't for them."
Beginning at 7 a.m. Friday in Sarasota, Florida, Members of the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association escorted Taylor's remains across seven states to his native Kentucky. The association provides several thousand escorts for military veterans every year.
Wallace Taylor, a veteran of the U.S. Army, was escorted to Louisville, Ky., on Sunday, April 18, 2021, to be buried next to his mother at Resthaven Memorial Cemetery. (WDRB photo)
"We kept picking up bikes and state troopers along the way. We actually had a police escort all the way up here," said Robert Lynch, who works at the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital in Tampa Florida and knew Taylor from his three decades of being a patient there.
Taylor was born and raised in Louisville and joined the U.S. Army 1941 at age 17. He was a combat veteran in World War II and one of the "Frozen Chosin" in the Korean War.
"They were outnumbered four to one by the Chinese — 36 (degrees) below zero — and he was one of the survivors," Ballard said.
A funeral was held for Louisville native Wallace Taylor, a veteran of the U.S. Army, on Sunday, April 18, 2021 at Resthaven Memorial Cemetery. (WDRB photo)
Taylor was made a Kentucky Colonel after his military service and was affectionately known as "Colonel Taylor." Inside Resthaven Memorial Cemetery on Sunday, Taylor received a three-volley salute and other military recognitions before his last wish was granted.
Most of the people who attended the service didn't know Taylor in life.
"I am blown away by it," Scharber said, "and I think he would be, too."
"We're all about respecting our veterans," Ballard added.
A funeral was held for Louisville native Wallace Taylor, a veteran of the U.S. Army, on Sunday, April 18, 2021 at Resthaven Memorial Cemetery. (WDRB photo)
The people who did know him said it was a very fitting final farewell and salute to an American hero
"He lived a full life," Lynch said. "I feel like he's at peace now."
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