By Nita Johnson
Staff Writer
LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. —
Just as he cherished and honored his county and his country, so was long-time London attorney Boyd Taylor honored Tuesday.
The 85-year-old and his wife Phyllis drove from their Somerset home for a luncheon at Weaver’s Hog Dogs to honor Taylor’s commitment to serve the nation’s military during World War II and his dedication to helping people in the community as legal counsel for nearly 50 years.
“He never denied helping someone who didn’t have money to pay,” said State Sen. Tom Jensen (R-London), also a local attorney. “He tried to help anyone he could.”
Jensen then read and presented a Senate resolution honoring Taylor’s contributions as a World War II veteran and now retired attorney. He was also presented with a collage of pictures taken by a Dayton, Ohio, resident who found Taylor’s name on a military plane displayed at the Dayton Air Show.
Smiling at the large crowd assembled for Tuesday’s luncheon, Taylor was honored by several of the local attorneys and dignitaries from the area. Though he spoke few words publicly, Taylor did say it was good to see all his friends and former co-workers.
“This is very nice,” he said.
Gerry Whitaker, Taylor’s secretary for more than three decades, then spoke for the elderly attorney and told the story of the photo collage that will hang beside Taylor’s military picture on the wall at Weaver’s.
“A man originally from Harlan, Kentucky, now living in Dayton, went to the Dayton Air Show and saw Boyd F. Taylor’s name on one of the planes,” Whitaker said. “He took pictures of it and, wondering if they could be related, started doing research on the Internet to find Boyd Taylor.”
That research lead Dayton resident John Taylor to the Web site for Taylor, Keller, Dunaway & Tooms law firm. John Taylor called the office.
“Boyd just has retired the last couple of years,” Whitaker said. “He has retired gradually, but that’s how John Taylor found him. We told him he’d contacted the right place and then he sent these pictures that he’d taken at the air show.”
Those pictures include close-ups of an Air Force bomber on which Boyd Taylor, though a Marine, was an occupant. Whitaker explained that during WWII, soldiers would write their name, hometown, division and the date and location where they dropped bombs.
Once Boyd Taylor’s identity was confirmed, John Taylor sent photos of the plane on which Boyd Taylor had been a soldier passenger. The staff at Taylor’s law firm decided to keep the collage a secret and honor Taylor with a special luncheon and invite his former associates and members of the Laurel County Bar Association.
Katie Gilliam, president of the local bar association, said Taylor’s contributions to the community were endless. She said she was proud to be a part of honoring him Tuesday. Local attorney Marcia Milby Ridings echoed that sentiment.
“Boyd, you practiced law with my dad, Robert Milby,” Ridings said as Taylor nodded. “He started out in your firm.”
Taylor, who will turn 86 in August, was a teenager when the war with Japan began after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Like others his age, he joined the military to serve his country as the fight for freedom and justice prevailed throughout the world. He earned the rank of sergeant and was part of the Ordnance division, which dropped bombs on enemy sites.
After completing his military service, Taylor went on to establish his law firm in his hometown of London in 1951. Through the years he has worked with many attorneys, court cases and community-based events.
Though John Taylor, the man who saw Taylor’s signature on the plane, was not able to attend Tuesday’s luncheon, Whitaker said John Taylor plans to visit London in August.
“We’d like to have Boyd and John Taylor meet here at Weaver’s where John can see his pictures from the air show that he sent displayed on the wall with all these other vintage pictures,” Whitaker said.
Staff writer Nita Johnson can be reached by e-mail at njohnson@sentinel-echo.com.
