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by Alastair Jamieson
An Afghan military officer who has been killed while serving in the country, describing him as "an inspiring man who loved you all."
Maj. Abdul Rahman Rahmani, a special mission pilot and U.S. Marine Corps University graduate, penned a tribute to Maj. Brent Taylor, a Utah National Guardsman fatally shot on Saturday.
"Rahmani wrote in a message posted on Twitter.
Taylor was killed in an apparent "insider attack" by a member of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces he was helping to train in Kabul. The assailant was further killed by other Afghan forces.
Taylor's body was flown to the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware overnight.
The 39-year-old was also the mayor of North Ogden, Utah. He leaves behind his wife, Jennie, and seven children aged 11 months to 13 years.
"He died on our soil but died for the success of freedom and democracy in our countries," Rahmani wrote. "I want you to know that Afghans feel extreme about your husband and father … please do not think that the violent act has taken us back to Americans."
Rahmani, who learned to fly at Fort Rucker in Alabama and was trained by U.S. forces, said he had learned about American cultural values from Taylor.
"Here, a woman can not express herself fully, either inside or outside the house. Here, most families treat children unfairly, "Rahmani wrote. "Let me admit that, before I put Brent, even I did not think that women and men should be treated equally. Your husband teaches me to love my wife.
"I flew missions with him," the pilot added. "He was an inspiring man who loved you all."
Utah Senator Orrin Hatch and Col. Dave Butler, a U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan.
Rahmani, who graduated in May from the USMC Expeditionary Warfare School in Virginia, is also author of a collection of stories from Afghanistan.
Days before he died, Taylor posted a message on Facebook describing recent elections in Afghanistan "beautiful to see" and called on Americans to vote in Tuesday's midterms.
"I hope everyone back home exercises their precious right to vote," he added. "And that whether the Republicans or the Democrats win, that we remember that we have more people than we do."
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