The final message of the deceased mayor of Utah killed in Afghanistan: vote

SALT LAKE CITY – On the eve of Election Day, the death of Brent Taylor, Mayor of North Ogden and Major of the Utah National Guard, continued to resonate not only across Utah, but also across the country and even in some parts of the world.

Taylor's death in an internal attack while training Afghan forces in Kabul hit the headlines in the United States, with media reporting Taylor's latest public message – a call to action while Polling stations were preparing for Tuesday's elections.

Taylor's message of October 28: Celebrate freedom and vote, then come together.

"As the United States prepares to vote in our own election (Tuesday), I hope everyone at home will exercise its valuable franchise," Taylor wrote in an article posted on Facebook. "And whether Republicans or Democrats win, we all remember that we have many more Americans who unite us than we divide." United, we stand, divided, we fall. "God bless America."

Taylor paid tribute to Afghans defying the Taliban and participating in Afghan elections. He said that it was "magnificent to see more than 4 million Afghan Afghan men and women brave threats and deadly attacks" during the first parliamentary poll in Afghanistan for eight years.

Six days later, Taylor and his family would join countless Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Originally scheduled for Monday night, Taylor's body was scheduled to arrive in Delaware at Dover Air Base at 3:20 am on Tuesday morning for a "transfer with dignity," according to the Utah National Guard.

Since Taylor's death on Saturday, Utah's rulers, including Lt.-Gov. Spencer Cox, the state's highest election official, have aired Taylor's latest public message on social media.

Governor Gary Herbert in an interview on Monday praised Taylor's latest message, noting that even in "adverse conditions", Afghans were eager to vote – "something we take for granted".

"That's why he was fighting," Herbert said. "People loved him, and he loved him despite the differences, but he knew that he was guiding them to a better path, and he told us in America:" N '# 39; forget what made America great. "

Taylor's family made a statement Sunday through Kristy Pack, the sister of Taylor's widow, Jennie Taylor, expressing her pride of Taylor's "desire to bring freedom to others and to serve his country".

"We are very proud of the way he lived, proud of the way he gave his life," said Pack.

On Monday, a member of the Afghan forces – a pilot of the Afghanistan-based Special Mission Wing in Kabul – remembered Taylor and sent a letter to Taylor's widow expressing his condolences and call Taylor an "inspiring man" and his "mentor". "

"Never stop telling your children how great their father was," said Major Abdul Rahman Rahmani. "He was a true patriot, he died on our soil, but for the success of freedom and democracy in our two countries, and in his last message he educated not only the Americans, but the whole world. to the values ​​of democracy and democracy, freedom. "

In interviews with the Deseret News Monday, Rahmani said that Taylor "changed my life when I met him," explaining that he only knew Taylor shortly after several missions that they have conducted together, but that Taylor had taught him an important lesson: "The family is not something, that's all."

Rahmani said that he had learned this lesson after having a long conversation with Taylor while they were waiting for a mission. Rahmani said that he was angry at his wife and children during a phone call.

"Let me admit that before I met Brent, I did not even think that women and men should be treated equally," Rahmani wrote. "Your husband has learned to love my wife Hamida as an equal and to treat my children as precious gifts, to be a better father, to be a better husband and to be a better man."

Rahmani also wrote that he wanted Jennie Taylor to be informed that "most Afghans feel extreme grief and pain as a result of Taylor's loss."

"When you think about our country and its sacrifice, I can not imagine your grief or your sense of loss, but please, do not think that the violent act that cost his life is representative of us or our feelings towards the Americans, "Rahmani wrote.

In Utah, Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski honored Taylor with a moment of silence at a ceremony honoring city employees who also served in the US military.

"Major Taylor's life was the very embodiment of public service, a life of purpose and principle," Biskupski said. "He was dedicated to the search for democracy, at home and abroad".

Biskupski emphasized that in her latest message, Taylor "encouraged each of us to put aside the labels that divide us and to define the common ground that allows us to build strong and resilient communities."

"The Chief Mayor Taylor is the perfect example of why we are here today, paying tribute to the city employees who served," said Biskupski.

Dozens of city employees rallied for Monday's ceremony which took place in calm and serenity while the 141st Military Intelligence Battalion of the Utah National Guard has raised an American flag in front of the Salt Lake City building.

Veterans employees signed a banner that will be hung on the first floor of City Hall during Veterans Day.

Among them was Al Hoskins, a firefighter from Salt Lake City who had previously worked as a firefighter for the US Air Force. He retired in 2011 after several tours in Iraq.

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Hoskins called the ceremony "brilliant", noting that veterans "rarely get the appreciation that all veterans deserve". He said the Monday ceremony was necessary as the military community of Utah was mourning Taylor's death.

"It hit home," Hoskins said of Taylor's murder. "My condolences go to his wife and children, I did not know him, but just about him and all the support he got, he was an awesome guy." And that could have happened to n & # 39; Any one of us. "

contributing: Lisa Riley Roche, Jed Boal