Taylor Austin Jones
Awarded: Knight Commander’s Medal – March 8, 2017
Presented by Knight Commander Darren S. Kay on Thursday, August 3rd, 2017 during the Convention Session I during the 77th Convention & Brotherhood Weekend in St. Louis, Missouri.
After a day of boating off the coast, three Rho Chapter seniors, Taylor Jones ’12, Logan McVey ’12 and Matt Goettee ’13, were returning to a stormy Charleston Harbor when they were called to rescue a mother and her young daughter. Taylor Jones jumped into the water with 4 to 5 foot swells to reach the daughter with Autism and Down’s syndrome. After the girl was safe, the three men were able to pull the mother onboard.
The mother and daughter were onboard another sailboat when it was hit by winds that nearly tipped it over. The Post and Courier published this story on the rescue.