Remains of Utah mayor, killed on Guard duty in Afghanistan, to arrive in US
Maj. Brent Taylor was killed this past weekend on his fourth deployment.
The remains of a National Guard soldier and Utah mayor killed in Afghanistan over the weekend are expected to arrive in the United States on Tuesday, according to the Department of Defense.
Maj. Brent R. Taylor, 39, who was killed during an insider attack in Kabul on Saturday, was the mayor of North Ogden, a husband, and a father to seven young children.
He served the Utah Army National Guard based out of Joint Force Headquarters in Draper, Utah, and had completed two combat tours in Iraq, serving as a convoy security commander and then as an adviser to an Iraqi national intelligence agency, according to the biography on the North Ogden city website. He was on his fourth deployment -- a second tour of Afghanistan, according to the AP.
A dignified transfer of Taylor's remains is expected to take place early Tuesday morning at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, Department of Defense spokesperson Col. Rob Manning told reporters on Monday.
One other American service member who was wounded in the attack is currently undergoing medical treatment but in stable condition, according to a NATO statement.
Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch tweeted a photo with Taylor on Saturday, calling the soldier "a hero, a patriot, a wonderful father, and a dear friend."
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said in a statement he was "heartbroken at the news" and felt "completely humbled by the service and the ultimate sacrifice offered by this brave and selfless soldier."
"The entire Herbert family mourns with this soldier's family and we pray that their burdens may be lifted, and that the hearts of all Utahns will reach out to comfort them in their grief," the statement read.
In his final Facebook post on Oct. 28, Taylor encouraged everyone to vote and all for unity.
"As the USA gets ready to vote in our own election next week, I hope everyone back home exercises their precious right to vote. And that whether the Republicans or the Democrats win, that we all remember that we have far more as Americans that unites us than divides us. “United we stand, divided we fall.” God Bless America," he wrote.
Just four days later, a Czech soldier was killed and two others were wounded during another insider attack in Herat Province in western Afghanistan.
The number of insider attacks in Afghanistan peaked at 61 in 2012 but had become rarer after the U.S. military instituted security safeguards to protect American troops.
ABC News' Luis Martinez contributed to this report from the Pentagon.
