From collection Member List
From the 99 Lives Project (99 Lives (knox.edu))
ROBERT CUNNINGHAM TAYLOR, JR
ROBERT CUNNINGHAM TAYLOR, JR
BIRTH DATE
4 Jun 1906
BIRTH LOCATION
Virginia, Cass County, Illinois, USA
FATHER
Robert Cunningham Taylor
MOTHER
Charlotte Stryker Taylor
SIBLINGS
Henry Stryker Taylor
HIGH SCHOOL
Virginia HS
HIGH SCHOOL LOCATION
Virginia, Illinois
HOMETOWN
Virginia, Cass County
HOME STATE
Illinois
ENTERED KNOX
1926
CLASS YEAR
1929
MAJOR
Greek
HONORED
Graduated cum laude. After the war, his brother Henry endowed a scholarship fund in Robert's name for Knox students
ACTIVITIES
Glee Club, Student Council
FRATERNITY
Phi Gamma Delta
ENLISTMENT DATE
16 Jun 1943
WAR / CONFLICT
World War II
MILITARY SERVICE
US Army
SERIAL NUMBER
36033181
RANK
Private First Class, promoted to Sergeant on 16 Nov 1944
UNIT
B Company, 1st Battalion, 175th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division
SERVICE HISTORY
Upon graduating in 1929, Taylor followed in his father's footsteps and became a banker. The US instituted a peacetime draft in 1940, and Taylor was inducted into the US Army under this draft in May 1941. He quickly advanced in rank and received his commission as Second Lieutenant without having to attend Officer Training School. However, he became frustrated with his duty at a POW (Prisoner of War) camp in Georgia, so he resigned his commission. He was re-inducted into the Army as a private and sent to California for training in anti-aircraft weaponry. After training was complete, he was sent to France in Aug 1944. His division, the 29th, planned secret crossings from Belgium, France, and the Netherlands into Germany, and it was on one of these clandestine passages that Taylor was killed.
CASUALTY DATA
KIA / Killed In Action; status was MIA / Missing In Action until 25 Nov 1944
DATE OF DEATH
16 Nov 1944
AGE AT DEATH
38
LOCATION OF DEATH
In the vicinity of Schauffenberg-Bettendorf-Siersdorf, Germany
BURIAL
Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands
PLOT LOCATION
Plot D, row 11, grave 9
FIND A GRAVE
AWARDS
Purple Heart
REMARKS
Transferred to Knox from Millikin University, Decatur, Illinois; attended graduate school at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts