Blanca Taylor

Blanca Taylor enlisted in the Army National Guard in August 2002 and served for more than a decade as a member of the 1864th Motor Transport Company, including a deployment as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

On the morning of New Year’s Day 2005, Taylor was traveling back to Kuwait when her convoy was stopped because another unit was disarming an IED on the other side of the road. After being given the all-clear, the convoy started moving again. About five minutes further down the road, another IED detonated under the front right tire of the truck SGT Taylor was driving. Despite the cabin filling with black smoke, she was able to keep her foot on the pedal and keep the vehicle moving forward. After the explosion, the convoy immediately began taking fire and Taylor was able to drive the truck further down the road until it ran out of fuel. SGT Taylor and her co-driver were eventually able to evacuate the truck and assistance from aerial support.

Along with the Purple Heart, SGT Taylor was awarded numerous medals and commendations during her service, including the Army Commendation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Medal, and more.

U.S. Army National Guard Sergeant Blanca Taylor represented her fellow Purple Heart heroes as Nevada’s honoree during the 2023 Purple Heart Patriot Project Mission.