A 17-year-old teen, Cadet Second Lieutenant Kaheem Bailey-Taylor, recently earned the highest honor in the U.S. Army’s JROTC.
Kaheem recently earned a Medal Of Heroism after he saved a friend’s life following a shooting in North Philadelphia last year. He received his medal during a special ceremony at the Philadelphia Military Academy to honor Bailey-Taylor on Jan. 6. According to the U.S. Army, its given to those who “perform an act of heroism” in an alarming situation.
“If it wasn’t for ROTC, I probably wouldn’t have known what I was doing,” Kaheem said in an interview with Fox 29, after the ceremony. He credited the JROTC for assisting him with gaining the skills to move swiftly in an emergency situation and added that his mother, Chantel Taylor, is very proud of him.
In August 2022, the teen attended a birthday party for a relative that went left. Moments after leaving the function, gunshots broke out, and Kaheem went back to the residence. While handling the chaotic situation, he helped three of four wounded victims, ages 15 to 18, and even rescued a friend and JROTC classmate. His classmate reportedly suffered from life-threatening injuries from a gunshot wound to the stomach.
“‘Tell your son, thank you, he saved my son’s life. My son might not be here if it wasn’t for him.’ You know, he is who he is. That’s my shining star,” Chantel said. She additionally shared that her son plans to graduate from the ROTC program very soon and pursue a career in homeland security.
“The bravery, the heroism that was shown, the selflessness of himself,” Lt. Colonel Retired Russell Gallagher, Commandant of the Philadelphia Military Academy said about the courageous teen.
