‘Punch to the stomach’: Giant American flag used to honor fallen servicemen stolen

NORTH OGDEN, Utah — A giant American flag used in parades and funerals honoring fallen members of the military was stolen from a trailer in Utah.

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The Major Brent Taylor Foundation, named for the former mayor of North Ogden who was killed while deployed in Afghanistan, said in a Facebook post that its flag had been stolen. The flag, which measures 30 feet by 60 feet, had been inside a locked trailer. In the post, the foundation said the giant flag was with hundreds of smaller flags that were going to be taken to the funeral service for a fallen marine.

“Saturday morning we awoke to find the lock on the trailer had been removed, the door was wide open, and the large case and flag were gone,” the foundation said in the post. “Fortunately, nothing else was taken or damaged.”

“We have kind of been in a little bit of shock all weekend,” Jennie Taylor, Maj. Taylor’s widow and the foundation’s founder, told KUTV. “When we first discovered it, it felt like a punch to the stomach.”

The giant flag, which the foundation refers to as “the Lieutenant,” is often used at parades and other events honoring servicemembers.

“In Colorado a few years ago, Officer Eric Talley was killed in a grocery store. We flew out there and took the flag,” Taylor told KSL-TV. “We lent it to Boulder City Police Station and they hung it on the side of their police building for a number of weeks. During the pandemic, we hung it on the side of McKay-Dee and Ogden Regional Medical Center to thank our healthcare workers. So, this is very much significant, very emotional, and it’s a display, it’s a tribute flag.”

Police are investigating the theft. Taylor told the Standard-Examiner that finding the flag is more important than finding the person responsible, suggesting that the flag could be left in a public place and returned.

“We’re not looking to punish or make a big deal out of it,” Taylor told KSL-TV. “It’s frustrating and it’s crushing, and our first thought is who in the world hates us, which is not necessarily a targeted attack, but you feel violated when something you own is taken by someone who does not have permission to take it.”

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