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North OGDEN, Utah – The call was again launched. Brent Taylor, Mayor of North Ogden and Major of the Utah National Guard, would travel to Afghanistan for his fourth deployment.
He spoke to his constituents on Facebook in January, bowing to the camera to explain that he had been called to serve his country "when and how I can" and that he would have left for a year, within a team form a commando battalion of the Afghan army. "Leadership is really what leadership is," he tells them
He said goodbye to his wife, Jennie, and their seven children, and entrusted his municipal duties to his friend Brent Chugg. "You have to stay safe," Chugg told him. "I will," said Major Taylor.
He did not go home. Major Taylor, 39, was killed on Saturday by an insider attack, apparently by one of the people he was there to help.
The Pentagon did not say right away who had been killed. But the news that it was Brent Taylor soon spread to Utah, relayed by the remorse expressed by politicians and leaders of civil society.
In a country already torn by mid-term election concerns, massive shootings in the synagogue and high-profile bomb threats, the death of Major Taylor and the injury of another member of the armed forces during the same attack caused a new wave of grief. It was a stark reminder of a 17-year-old war that dug gaping holes in communities across the country, with little end in sight.
His death was particularly deadly in Utah, where a widely shared Mormon religion links many of its three million inhabitants in a way that is rare in the modern era. On Saturday, when Mr. Chugg arrived at Jennie Taylor's house, they kissed and she began to sob.
"We are overwhelmed by heartache, but no regrets," said Taylor's sister, Kristy Pack, Sunday in front of the modest brick house. Although Major Taylor died as a result of an alleged internal attack, Ms. Pack said, "In our opinion, there is not much room for anger."
Mrs. Taylor now has to bring up the couple's children: Megan, 13; Lincoln, 11 years old; Alex, 9 years old; Jacob 7; Ellie, 5 years old; Jonathan, 2; and Caroline, 11 months.
At a press conference at the Utah National Guard headquarters in Salt Lake City, Gov. Gary R. Herbert said he personally knew Major Taylor, the appellant "The personification of the love of God, of his family and of his country".
Governor Herbert said that he knew that friends had tried to persuade Major Taylor not to return to Afghanistan, arguing that he had done enough for his country. But Major Taylor wanted to go, said the governor, and had the support of his wife to make this decision, because he loved the Afghan people and thought they could do good.
A law of Utah authorizes elected officials who belong to the reserve or national guard, like Major Taylor, to retain their civilian functions when they are deployed by temporarily surrendering them. authority to a substitute.
North Ogden is a suburb of 19,000 located north of Salt Lake City at the foot of the Wasatch Range. On Sunday, locals woke up at dawn to carry American flags on towering pylons in foggy streets, leading them into the cold ground along the road leading to City Hall.
Then they dispersed into the many churches in the city, where they nodded when their leaders called the "brothers and sisters" to pray for Brother Taylor and his family. It was a fast Sunday, when Mormons skipped meals and gave food to the hungry. At a service, dark boys dressed in white and crisp shirts surrounded the benches with the sacrament.
"I just do not know a better man," said Clark Skeen, a resident of North Ogden.
Major Taylor, who grew up in Arizona, enlisted in the army after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The same was true for his five brothers. Before his last tour, he had served twice in Iraq and once in Afghanistan.
He joined the City Council in 2009, was elected Mayor in 2013 and was re-elected in 2017. He has carved a reputation as a practical leader and attentive listener, no matter who the 39, we would see in the streets before dawn to direct the snowplow stormy days.
Mr. Chugg said that in his capacity as mayor, Major Taylor was engaged in improvement work in the city, building an amphitheater, building a works public and new roads. The other city officials, he said, were satisfied with the status quo: "Not Mayor Taylor".
A small memorial began to form on Sunday in front of City Hall, under a soggy American flag and reduced to half of staff. A woman, Deborah Eddy, 63, has placed a bright yellow lily in a flowerpot. Another, 36-year-old Judy Viskoe, was standing next to him, holding a black umbrella.
"I cried all day yesterday," said Ms. Viskoe. "I do not align politically with him. He is republican. But I noticed in his management of the city that he treated everyone with respect. He listened and he did not add his policy to politics. He is unlike any other mayor in my life. "
The number of US troops in Afghanistan has fallen to less than 14,000 in 2018, compared to about 100,000 in 2011, while US forces were still formally engaged in a combat mission there. Only a few large bases have been closed and the main role of the remaining US troops is to advise and train Afghan forces and not to fight the Taliban themselves.
The mission change also changed the composition of the troops in danger. Americans training Afghan troops are often older, more senior and more experienced than ever before.
And it is these troops who, surrounded by armed Afghans, tend to face the greatest risk of internal attacks, a persistent threat in the country. Nearly half of the combat deaths in Afghanistan this year have been suspected of internal attacks.
Together, these trends have led to a steady increase in the average age and rank of American victims.
Since the end of the term in 1973, it has also become increasingly common for brothers and sisters to serve in the military, like Major Taylor and his brothers. Researchers say that having a parent or brother in uniform increases the likelihood that someone will join, and the same goes for coming from a large family. This spring, Michigan quadruplets have all enlisted, each in a different branch of the armed forces.
Major Taylor's body is due to arrive at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Monday at 9:45 pm Members of his family and representatives of the Utah National Guard should be present.
"Utah is crying for them today," Lieutenant Governor Spencer J. Cox wrote on Facebook after learning of the death of the major. "This war again cost us the best blood of a generation."
When Major Taylor left North Ogden in January, hundreds of people lined the street to see him leave the country and the local police escorted him.
"At the moment, my experience and my skills are necessary to serve the long war of our country in Afghanistan," he wrote at the time, stating that his work would respect the order of President Trump to expand the capabilities of Afghan forces.
Rather than disappearing into a war zone, Major Taylor has maintained a steady stream of Facebook posts during his deployment, connecting his community to a conflict that many Americans do not see.
In what turned out to be his last public message, on October 28, he exchanged a message on the recent Afghan elections.
"It was wonderful to see more than 4 million Afghan men and women brave threats and deadly attacks in Afghanistan's first parliamentary elections in eight years," he wrote. "Many American soldiers, allied with NATO and Afghans have died to make such moments possible."
Then he turned to his own country.
"As the United States prepares to vote in our own election next week, I hope all citizens at home will exercise their precious right to vote," he wrote. "And whether Republicans or Democrats win, we all remember that we have many more Americans who unite us than we divide."
He concluded, "God bless America. ??️?? "
