Next up: MARIUPOL IS GONE, obviously set primarily in present-day Ukraine, features a slightly updated Nash Devon, our nuclear expert from DESERT WINDS with Ulf the Dutch Shepherd bomb dog up, to their ears in the brutal Russians and Chechen special forces at Chernobyl. Then comes an add-on to the STICK Trilogy: THE LAST STICK, where Max the German Shepherd returns to duty during Operation Varsity, the final and biggest Allied airborne operation of WWII. Taylor grew up in Carolina small towns and tobacco farms but went international at an early age when, as an Army brat during the Korean Conflict, he learned the nuances of back-alley Japanese in Tokyo and mastered the fine art of winning Japanese cigarettes in the pachinko parlors. He also discovered his intolerance for excessive alcohol with the headaches of Kirin beer.
Once again defying the wisdom of the academics, he graduated with honor from the Infantry Officers Advance Course (Taylor's Infantry School Advance Course report on platoon ops with the Airborne in VN) and instructed at the Fort Benning Infantry Center before completing his Masters of Industrial Engineering with a minor in Operations Research at North Carolina State University at Raleigh, to be rewarded by a second fully-funded tour of Southeast Asia. There, Taylor served with the 20th Engineer Brigade, the direct linage descendent of the 1128th Engineer Combat Group, whose battalions and separate units were decisive in holding the line at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge during WWII. Next came staff assignments in interesting locales such as historic Fortress Monroe and Bavaria, where he became a connoisseur of jaeger schnitzel, apfel schnapps, ski slopes and the many regional beers of Bavaria.
Twenty years after his first assignment with the 101st Airborne Division, he returned to Fort Campbell where, under the careful supervision of hard-eyed, grizzled instructors (born the same year Taylor first joined the Division), he survived Air Assault School, commanded the 501st Signal Battalion (Air Assault) and served as the Division Signal Officer. Taylor finally got to move to the front of the formation where he could see what was going on. Following a return assignment with Central Command, Taylor retired from the Army to work as a telecommunications system engineer on military C4I programs and as a project manager for advanced technology R&D programs. Much to his surprise, he found himself traveling to Europe and the Middle East, and continuing to monitor Stuttgarter Hofbraeu quality. After studying the craft of writing at the University of South Florida and at workshops by notable authors including Ann Turner Cook, Barbra Parker, Sterling Watson and Les Standiford, Taylor now writes and lives on the Florida suncoast where he has discovered Tampa's many craft beers and Honduran cigars. Taylor is a life member of the 101st Airborne Division Association and Florida Gulf Coast Chapter of the 101st Airborne Division Association, the Military Officers Association of America, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Association of the United States Army and a member of the American Legion, Florida Writers Association, Military Writers Society of America, the OSS Society and the Mystery Writers of America. |
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