Jennie Taylor knows something of the sacrifices that have been made over the past 20 years in Afghanistan. Her husband, Major Brent Taylor, was shot and killed by an Afghan commando during a training in 2018.
In a Facebook post shared on Sunday, Taylor spoke of her husband’s love for the people of Afghanistan and said, “to see what is unfolding in that country as we leave is truly devastating.” She said she didn’t know what the answers were to the many questions surrounding the USA’s decision to leave Afghanistan but instead wanted to honor those who have given their lives regardless of the outcome.
“We call the World War II generation America’s greatest generation,” Taylor wrote. “Why? Is it only because we ‘won’ that war? Would their greatness have been diminished if the treaties were signed a different way at the end? Or was their greatness found—and manifested, tested, and proved—long before the victory was ever claimed? Is it the winning alone that makes the warrior the hero? Or is it the willingness to fight the battle?”
► You may also like: “I'm Not Raising My Children Alone”: How Jennie Taylor Has Found Peace after Her Husband Was Killed in Afghanistan
She went on to pose the question, “Is the sacrifice of the fallen worth it?” Although directed to Americans, her answer seems universally applicable for all who have sacrificed their lives for freedom.
“We must decide—each of us—if we are going to live our lives in such a way that makes their sacrifices worth it. And perhaps that is where the greatness of America has always been found—in the determination of her people to honor those who have gone before them by making something of honor out of the lives that have been given to them,” she wrote.
Read more here.
Lead Image: Deseret News
