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NORTH OGDEN — A facility for veterans in North Ogden is likely to be renamed after the city’s former mayor, Maj. Brent Taylor, after the father of seven was killed in an apparent insider attack nearly a month ago while deployed in Afghanistan.
Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, introduced legislation requesting the name change, and the U.S. House of Representatives approved the bill Tuesday. It now awaits Senate and presidential approval. If passed, the center will be renamed the “Major Brent Taylor Vet Center Outstation.”
The Department of Veterans Affairs opened the facility in April to assist veterans and their families with "counseling, support and other help," Bishop told the House. The facility is located in the heart of Taylor’s hometown where he was elected mayor. Naming the center after the soldier would be a “small gesture to his service and sacrifice,” Bishop said.
Taylor took an unprecedented one-year leave of absence from his post as mayor for his deployment to Afghanistan in January. He was killed just months away from his return and leaves behind his wife, Jennie, and seven children ranging in age from 13 years to 11 months.
Over 10 years earlier, Taylor was awarded the Purple Heart after he was injured in Afghanistan while commanding a convoy that was hit by an improvised explosive device. He deployed twice more afterward.
“The naming of a building will never repay the debt our nation owes Mayor Taylor or his family, but it can stand as a humble reminder of the citizen soldier who lost his life in the service of others,” Bishop told the House.
In addition to a Purple Heart, Taylor also earned a Bronze Star for “his outstanding dedication to duty during combat operations,” Bishop said. The congressman also noted that Taylor lived the Army’s motto — “doing your duty means more than carrying out your assigned tasks” — in both his professional and personal life.
Dear Mrs. Taylor,
— Abdul Rahman Rahmani (@rahmanrahmanee) November 5, 2018
Maj Taylor was my friend. I wrote this letter for his family.
I hope this little contribution eases your pain.
Note: this letter was sent to his physical add by one my American mentors. I tried to email too but I failed to find her email. pic.twitter.com/28nH7o4W6D
Shortly after his death, an Afghan pilot who served with Taylor tweeted an open letter to the soldier’s wife saying that, during the short time he knew Taylor, the Utahn taught the pilot to love his wife “as an equal,” treat his children as “treasured gifts” and be a better father, husband and man.
“A man does not receive that level of praise without first showing forth their own grand measure of respect,” Bishop told Congress.
Taylor’s funeral was held Nov. 17, and his body was laid to rest the same day.
The veterans outstation is located on Washington Boulevard in North Ogden.
