Students Document UT Alum, Medal of Honor Recipient Larry L. Taylor’s Story For Future Generations
Above: School of Journalism and Media student Sarah Grace Kennedy interview UT Alum and Medal of Honor Recipient Capt. Larry L. Taylor in Chattanooga.
Twenty years ago, the total number of living Medal of Honor recipients was in the hundreds.
Today, fewer than 100 living recipients remain.
For the past decade, students with the School of Journalism and Media have been documenting the stories of these American heroes as part of the Medal of Honor project — a student-led program produced by Land Grant Films and The Volunteer Channel.
Most recently, junior Carter Moore and senior Sarah Grace Kennedy traveled to the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee with Torchbearer Magazine, the official alumni magazine of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Land Grant Films and The Volunteer Channel to interview Medal of Honor Recipient and UT alumnus Capt. Larry L. Taylor.
President Joe Biden awarded Taylor the Medal of Honor in September for his daring helicopter rescue during the Vietnam War while serving with Troop D (Air), 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division, on June 18, 1968, near the village of Ap Go Cong.
“His story has been told many times as a Medal of Honor recipient, but I feel like every little bit helps keep it alive even longer,” Moore said. “And so, I am just happy to been a part of that.”
Moore enjoys telling impactful stories from behind the camera. He said when he agreed to be the camera operator for an upcoming project, he had no idea it was Taylor. He added he just wanted to take advantage of another opportunity to tell an impactful story.
However, after learning who the subject it is his excitement for the opportunity just grew.
Kennedy said she too was excited about the chance to tell Taylor’s story. Her role was to do research and be the interviewer. Moore said preparing to meet Taylor was a little nerve-wracking because she had never interviewed someone of his stature before.
Nonetheless, Taylor’s story is the type of journalism the soon-to-be graduating senior hopes to do as a multimedia journalist so she was grateful for the opportunity.
“It was a really great experience to be able to talk to him and hear his story,” Kennedy said.
Content from the hour-long interview will be repackaged for different mediums. Kennedy is working on a news package for The Volunteer Channel. Geidner and Moore will work on a longer, documentary-style package for Land Grant Films to be shared with the Medal of Honor Society. Torchbearer Magazine shared Taylor’s story online and it will also be featured in the fall 2024 issue of the magazine this December.
Preserving our heroes’ stories
School of Journalism and Media students have been documenting the stories of Medal of Honor recipients for a decade.
In 2014, the Medal of Honor Project was established with the intent of sharing the stories of various Medal of Honor recipients.
Geidner said Medal of Honor recipients’ stories always fascinated him so when he learned about the Medal of Honor Convention coming to Knoxville in 2014, he reached out in hopes the school can get involved.
This took the form of the Medal of Honor Project where UT students worked with the Medal of Honor Society to help preserve the stories of various Medal of Honor recipients. He said the timing was fortuitous as the society was trying to find ways to preserve the stories of the various recipients for future generations.
Geidner said over the past decade students have interviewed around 15 Medal of Honor recipients from conflicts including World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They have also returned to assist with documenting activities at other Medal of Honor Conventions.
The effort has taken students around the country to locations such as Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C. Geidner said Medal of Honor projects are led by the students, adding they handle equipment setup, research, interviewing and editing.
“It’s just always been a great opportunity for our students to document the stories of these American heroes,” Geidner said. “We love sitting down and getting their story on film so it’s preserved.”