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Utah service member killed in Kabul airport bombing

Staff Sergeant Taylor Hoover was killed in the attack along with 12 other service members.

(Rick Bowmer | AP) Neighbors tie yellow ribbons to flags in front of the family home of U.S. Marines Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover Friday, Aug. 27, 2021, in Sandy, Utah. Hoover was among the 13 U.S. troops killed in a horrific suicide bombing at Afghanistan's Kabul airport, which also claimed the lives of more than 100 Afghans. Hoover had been in the Marines for 11 years, his father Darin Hoover said Friday.

  | Aug. 27, 2021, 10:20 p.m.
| Updated: Aug. 28, 2021, 3:17 a.m.

A Utah service member died Thursday in the bombing at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan. According to a Tweet from Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover was killed in the attack.

“We’ll be forever grateful for his sacrifice & legacy,” Moore wrote in the Tweet. “He spent his last moments serving our state & nation, & we’ll never forget his unwavering devotion.”

Another congressman, Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, also expressed his condolences to Hoover’s family, along with Gov. Spencer Cox.

“We are devastated to hear of the passing of Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover,” Cox said in a statement. “Staff Sgt. Hoover served valiantly as a Marine and died serving his fellow countrymen as well as America’s allies in Afghanistan. We honor his tremendous bravery and commitment to his country, even as we condemn the senseless violence that resulted in his death. Abby and I pray for Staff Sgt. Hoover, his family and loved ones during this most difficult time.”

(Rick Bowmer | AP) Lena McIllece joins neighbors placing flags in front of the family home of U.S. Marines Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover Friday, Aug. 27, 2021, in Sandy, Utah. Hoover was among the 13 US troops killed in a horrific suicide bombing at Afghanistan's Kabul airport, which also claimed the lives of more than 100 Afghans. Hoover had been in the Marines for 11 years, his father Darin Hoover said Friday.

Hoover graduated from Hillcrest High School in Midvale in 2008, according to a Facebook alumni group for the school. Two family members, Brittany Jones Barnett and Jeremy Soto, expressed their love for Hoover in Facebook posts and said that he had been a hero.

“Taylor spent his entire adult life as a Marine, serving. Doing the hard things that most of us can’t do. He is a hero,” Soto wrote in the post. “Taylor is one of the 13 fallen in Afghanistan. We are wounded. We are bruised. We are angry. We are crushed... but we remain faithful.”

“The world has lost a true light,” Jones Barnett wrote. “Our hearts are broken. Shock, disbelief, horror, sadness, sorrow, anger and grief.”

“Thank you sweet boy for the ultimate sacrifice. For giving your life for us all. Fighting for freedom and giving absolutely everything you had. You will never ever be forgotten. We love you so much.”