A century of life Published July 22, 2011 By Brian Schroeder Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- A century ago, the world's first airmail was delivered in India, International Women's Day was celebrated for the first time, the world's first aerial bombing mission was conducted by the Italian military in Libya, an expedition of explorers reached the South Pole for the first time and on Sept. 30, Edgar Taylor was born in Roth, Okla. This year, Mr. Taylor will be celebrating his 100th birthday. He said beginning the 10th decade of his life "... doesn't make me feel any worse. It's nice to be here that long." Currently, Mr. Taylor lives by himself in his home in Del City. He has two sons, James and Donald, three grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren. His son James, who lives a few blocks away, brings his father to the Tinker Commissary every Wednesday morning at 6 a.m. to shop for groceries. "I let (James) do the shopping," Mr. Taylor explained. "I just come down with him to be sure he gets his groceries. My son comes down and helps me during the day but I do most everything by myself. He's down there just about every morning helping me get breakfast and things like that. He sees that I have plenty to eat. He takes care of me real good." Tradition of coming to commissary early in the morning started when he and his wife, Addie, would wake up early to be the first in line. Mr. Taylor said he has seen several advances in his life, but he thinks advances in organization have helped modernization. "My wife and I would come down here and stand in line when there were 20 people ahead of us," he said. "You don't see people standing in life for a couple of hours anymore, you know. There's more organization to it than there ever has been. People have a job to do and they are out there doing it." Mr. Taylor was one of six boys growing up on a small farm eight miles from the nearest town. He joined the Army in 1927 and served "31 years, seven months and 16 days" as a battery supply sergeant for a field artillery regiment. Throughout his career he was stationed in many places around the world, but the early part of his career was spent at Fort Sill, OK. "We had horse-drawn artillery then," Mr. Taylor said. "It was tough but we were able to manage." Mr. Taylor was stationed in the Philippines and New Guinea during World War II. He said one of his brothers was in the Army Air Corps, also serving in the Philippines, but was killed during a combat mission over the 7,000-island nation. Mr. Taylor said he will always remember the time he and his brother shared in the Philippines when they were both on the ground. On the morning of Jan. 9, 1945, Mr. Taylor, along with approximately 68,000 other members of the U.S. 6th Army, landed in the Lingayen Gulf, and secured more than 20 miles of beachhead in the South China Sea. During the four-day operation, heavy losses were taken due to Japanese kamikaze attacks. Mr. Taylor, then 1st Sergeant Taylor with the 43rd National Guard out of Vermont, said he and his unit were pinned behind enemy lines for days without food. "We stayed there until the whole island was secure," Mr. Taylor remembered. "For two days we didn't have anything to eat. You don't know if you were going to make it or not. We sat there for day and night. There was a fellow with two stars on his shoulder that told us to stay there. Don't try to fight our way out, so we stayed there. It was a scary, but the good Lord was with me and here I am. "I had a really good buddy there with me, a sergeant major," Mr. Taylor continued. "He wasn't afraid of the devil, no matter how many horns he had. When you lay down at night, when it was your turn to sleep, why, you knew things were going to be alright (because the sergeant major was on watch). You stay awake an hour and sleep an hour. A lot of times that old boy would be snoring away and I would let him sleep a little longer. I was awake already, so there wasn't much use in waking him up too. It was scary times." Returning to the U.S. after the war made him feel good, Mr. Taylor said, because the accomplishments they had been fighting for could be seen all around him. Being back home made him appreciate everything he had left behind while he was in the war. "You've seen part of the world you've never seen before and know you would never see again," he said. "I didn't want to and didn't care anything about that part of the world, but I knew I would never be down there anymore." Soon after the war, Mr. Taylor left active duty but continued to train with the reserves until he retired. Despite continued offers of promotions and pay raises, Mr. Taylor decided "...civilian life looked pretty happy, so I thought I would try that on." He took a job assisting troops in San Antonio, which Mr. Taylor said was a major hub for military movement after World War II. His wife and two sons reluctantly followed close behind. "I said (to my wife), I'm in the military and I'm going to stay with it," Mr. Taylor recalled. "(Addie) didn't like that at all, so she decided to stay in Oklahoma. Two weeks later, I got a letter from her saying she would be in San Anton soon." Throughout the past century, Mr. Taylor said getting married to his wife Addie trumps any other event he has witnessed during his life. They met when they were five years old and married July 16, 1932, when they were 21. They remained married for 38 years before Addie's death. "She was the most significant thing that happened to me in my life because she was such a wonderful lady," he recalled. "We had our differences of opinion, but we always tried to talk things out. We were best friends. We didn't have any real quarrels, just a difference of opinion. There is always a solution to the problem you and your spouse have. Just sit down and talk your problems out. People don't do that today. People just want their way. There is a solution to everything if you want to find it." Mr. Taylor eventually moved his family back to Oklahoma and worked as the evening shift supply supervisor for 15 years on Tinker. He said they wanted to put him on the graveyard shift but he refused. After his time working as a civilian on Tinker, he said it was time for him to stay at home. Taking care of his home and growing a backyard garden kept Mr. Taylor occupied but also kept him close to home after his retirement. He said after his wife passed away nine years ago he stopped growing his garden because it was too much to take care of for only one person. The days of dancing at honkytonks are long gone, Mr. Taylor joked. He said he does not get out much after dark and cannot see as well as he use to. Other than visiting his sons, he said going to church and weekly visits to the commissary are the only times he gets out of his home. He said most of his time is spent at his house by himself because he does not want to burden his son by taking up his time. "James is down there to help me when I need him, but I try to do everything on my own, or at least what I can," Mr. Taylor said. "I don't care too much for TV because I can't see, but a lot of times I will turn it on just to hear it. I can't read anymore but I enjoy listening to the news. Life can be boring if you let it, no matter how old you are. People get bored because they don't have anything to keep their mind going. Now I don't have any hobbies, but I've got a lot of good friends." Mr. Taylor says he is a man of faith and attributes his long life to remaining spiritually connected. His advice to living a long and happy life is to "come to know the good Lord." He recommends people get involved in a church program, no matter what your belief system. "I like to go to church and Sunday school and keep that in my mind," he said. "I don't say I'm right and I don't say you're right. We don't know. Wait until the end of time and then we will know." Receiving a better education was one thing Mr. Taylor said he would have liked to accomplish. However, he admitted he did not know whether a college degree would have benefited him not. Although he is still physically able to push his groceries from the commissary to his son's car, Mr. Taylor said there is one thing he has never done and will never do. "I never danced a step in my life," he said. "I couldn't see the sense in getting out there and working yourself down, all your energy and everything doing nothing. You aren't going anywhere or getting anything done. I couldn't see the sense in dancing." Mr. Taylor said he does not let his age affect his mindset on life. He said he is looking forward to celebrating several more birthdays. "I want to keep going as long as the good Lord will let me," Mr. Taylor said. "The doctor told me awhile back he doesn't see a thing in the world that will keep me from going another five or six more years. That would be alright with me."