NORTH OGDEN, UT. (THECOUNT) — Beloved North Ogden, Utah mayor, Brent Taylor, has been identified as the the U.S. service member killed in an apparent Afghanistan base insider attack on Saturday.
Maj. Taylor, a 39-year-old member of the Utah National Guard, was killed by an “insider,” while deployed on his second tour in Afghanistan, according to Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer J. Cox.
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Gov. Cox identified the 39-year-old soldier in a Facebook post on Sunday:
“Devastating news. North Ogden Mayor Brent Taylor was killed today while serving in Afghanistan,” Cox wrote. “I hate this. I’m struggling for words. I love Mayor Taylor, his amazing wife Jennie and his seven sweet kids. Utah weeps for them today. This war has once again cost us the best blood of a generation. We must rally around his family.” source
Taylor, who deployed to Afghanistan in January and was working closely with personnel assigned to the Afghan National Army Commando Corps, was on his second tour there, according to the Associated Press. He had previously served two tours in Iraq.
Taylor’s death marks the fourth death by an insider attack there this year.
Insider attacks have claimed the lives of more than 150 U.S. service members in Afghanistan since the start of the war there.
Ogden is a city north of Salt Lake City, in Utah. It’s a gateway to ski resorts like Snowbasin, Powder Mountain and Nordic Valley. George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park features life-size models and a paleontology lab. Historic 25th Street, once home to Prohibition-era speakeasies, is now a shopping and dining hub. At the street’s western end, Ogden Union Station houses museums explores trains, cars and cowboy history, according to wikipedia.