This Military Service Page was created/owned by
CWO2 Philip E. Montroy
to remember
Marine Capt Walter Taylor, Jr..
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Contact Info
Home Town Chicago
Last Address Rockaway Beach, OR
Date of Passing Apr 14, 1997
Location of Interment Santa Fe National Cemetery (VA) - Santa Fe, New Mexico
Following his WWII service in the OSS, Capt. Taylor moved to Santa Fe, NM, then to Mexico and then joined the faculty of Southern Illinois University where he developed the Department of Anthropolog in1958. He also taught occasionally in Texas, Washington, Mexico City College and the La Escuela Nacional de Antropologia e Historia in Mexico. In addition, Dr. Taylor conducted archaelogical fieldwork in Arizona, New Mexico, Georgia, Mexico and Spain. He retired in 1974 and moved to Oregon.
Dr. Taylor published many papers on anthropology and archaeology. His most important work, "A Study of Archeology", is now in it's seventh printing and will remain a monument to his life.
Capt. Taylor resigned from the USMCR in 1955 and was buried with full-military honors at the Santa Fe National Cemetery in 1997. He will be remembered as one of the less than dozen Marines who were assigned to HQMC, detached to the OSS and served in the European Theatre of Operations during WWII.
Other Comments:
Prior to his enlisting in the USMC in 1942, Dr. Taylor had received his AB degree in Geology from Yale University in 1935. This was followed by three years of field work in archaelogy working for first for the the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. and then for the University of New Mexico field school in Chaco Canyon where he served as archaeoligical field foreman.
In 1938 he enrolled in the anthropology doctoral program at Harvard University. In 1940 he undertook fieldwork in Coahuila, Mexico until 1942.
Marine Corps Base Quantico, also known as MCB Quantico, is a United States Marine Corps installation located near Triangle, Virginia, covering nearly 55,148 acres (86.169 sq mi) of southern Prince William County, Virginia, northern Stafford County, and southeastern Fauquier County. Used primarily for training purposes, MCB Quantico is known as the "Crossroads of the Marine Corps".
Quantico Station is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince William County and Stafford counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 4,452 at the 2010 census. The designation Quantico Station is not in widespread local use, but is simply a name used by the Census Bureau to describe base housing on Marine Corps Base Quantico.
The U.S. Marine Corps' Combat Development Command, which develops strategies for U.S. Marine combat and makes up most of the community of over 12,000 military and civilian personnel (including families) is based here. It has a budget of around $300 million and is the home of the Marine Corps Officer Candidates School. The Marine Corps Research Center at Quantico pursues equipment research and development, especially telecommunications, for the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps Brig, a military prison, is also located at Quantico.
The FBI Academy, the principal research and training facility of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the principal training facility for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are also located on the base.
In 2001, the base was designated as part of the Quantico Marine Corps Base Historic District by the National Register of Historic Places. This district includes 122 buildings, two landscapes, a sculpture, and a water tower located within the Mainside area of the base. The contributing properties with separate entries include Tennessee Camp, Camp French, Commanding General's Quarters, and Rising Hill Camp.