George Ira Taylor II (1918-2008)

George Ira Taylor II, retired U.S. Army colonel and research analyst, died peacefully on Jan. 27 at his home in Pacific Palisades, Calif. He was 89.

A native of Sumner, Miss., George was born Sept. 11, 1918, the son of Albert Ray and Carrie Brenner Taylor. George was the fourth generation to occupy the family's 1,100-acre farm in the Grand River Basin of north-central Missouri. His lifelong fascination with horses, machinery, and firearms began there. From the age of 4, he enjoyed duck hunting. He received his first pony at the age of 6, and rode it several miles to the one-room schoolhouse in fair weather and foul. He first drove a tractor at age 11, about the time he began taking the family Buick to town. A 1940 graduate of the University of Missouri (Columbia), where he was captain of the polo team, George entered the U.S. Army partly to continue playing polo, just when mechanized artillery was about to eclipse the horse-drawn variety. In World War II as an artillery officer, he came through the Battle of the Bulge and Remagen Bridge campaign unscathed, giving credit to training, luck, and "country-boy" instincts. His unit (part of the Third Armored Field Artillery, 9th Armored Division) was awarded a presidential citation for distinguished service during the Ardennes Offensive. This "Third Field" band of brothers, later including widows, still gathers for an annual reunion at Fort Riley, Kan. Over his 30-year Army career, George took part in a total of 10 campaigns; won numerous medals and awards, including the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, and Bronze Star; and held high staff and command positions in the United States, France, and Vietnam. While in Southeast Asia, he served a 1968 mission to Paris as Army liaison officer to Ambassador Averell Harriman, who was conducting peace talks with the North Vietnamese. After retiring from the Army in 1971, George enjoyed an equally long and active career as a research analyst. Specializing in military tactics, he held positions at Research and Development Associates (RDA), EOS Corporation, and the RAND Corporation in Southern California. George is remembered as being deeply devoted to family and friends, with a courtly manner and irrepressible wit, a bon vivant who was also intensely private, and a man of rock-solid integrity and character. He is survived by his wife of 22 years, Christine d'Arc Taylor, and their daughter Stephanie d'Arc Taylor. He has three children by his first wife, Carol Virginia McRae Taylor, who died in 1975: George Ira Taylor III (wife Victoria), of Columbia Falls, Mont.; John Alan Taylor, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; and Cathleen Ann Taylor, of Seattle, Wash. There are two granddaughters: Sydney Carol Taylor, of Columbia Falls, Mont., and Kacee Lynn Woods, of Boise, Idaho. Brother John Ray Taylor (wife Maxine) and sister Nina Parks reside in Othello. George is being laid to rest near his parents in Moses Lake. Arrangements are in care of Benson Family Funeral Service, Moses Lake.