Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery on Friday.
The Utah Marine was one of 13 U.S. service members killed in an Aug. 26 attack at Kabul airport.
Gov. Spencer Cox had ordered all state facilities on Friday to fly both U.S. and Utah flags at half-staff in honor of Hoover, who graduated from Hillcrest High School in Midvale in 2008.
Cox, Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, and Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, have all expressed their condolences to Hoover’s family. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, attended the funeral, and said in a tweet that Hoover “represents what it means to be a service member and a Marine.”
On Sept. 18, a memorial was held in Midvale in honor of Hoover. He had received several awards during his 10-year service career, including a Purple Heart, a relative said at the event.
That evening, Nicole Weiss, Hoover’s fiancee, told the crowd that Hoover was her “dream man.” She spoke about how they fell in love, and she read messages from Marines who were serving with him when he was killed.
“I don’t want people to feel sad for me,” she said at event. “I want them to know how grateful I am for having been with such an incredible man.”
(Danny La | Special to The Tribune) Near the entrance of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington and Alexandria Fire Department firefighters pay their respects during the funeral procession for Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover on Friday, Sept. 24, 2021. Hoover was killed in action due to a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan on Aug. 26.
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