Aubree Bosen, media specialist for the Honor the Hero Foundation, told the Standard-Examiner on Wednesday that the 78′ by 150′ American flag has been hung over Coldwater Canyon near North Ogden each Veterans Day since 2019 in honor of late North Ogden Mayor Maj. Brent Taylor who was killed in Afghanistan in November 2018.

“We hang it in Coldwater Canyon as a sign of hope, and patriotism, and community and unity for the community,” she said.

Hanging “The Major” has been a joint effort of the Honor the Hero Foundation and the Major Brent Taylor Foundation.

However, Bosen said the flag suffered severe weather damage during a storm Tuesday morning.

“Every year has been amazing to have it up, and we were hoping to get one more year out of it, but the weather just was not on our side this year,” she said. “(Tuesday) around 10 a.m., the flag wrapped around the rope which caused a tear. The tear has slowly been getting bigger. We’ve been keeping an eye on it — we have a drone team that observes it daily — and the tear is at the point now that we need to honor flag etiquette, which dictates we remove a damaged flag from public view.”

She noted that it’s a testament to the flag’s durability that it survived nearly six years of use in a place that can see all sorts of volatile weather.

“That’s incredible and we’re very proud of that,” she said. “It’s just an emotional thing because of what the flag stands for and its significance.”

Plans had been to display the flag over Coldwater Canyon through Sunday.

Rob Clark, chairman of the Honor the Hero Foundation, told the Standard-Examiner that a scenario like this had been envisioned.

“Everything we do has a shelf life,” he said. “Everything we do creates wear and tear on the flag. We knew eventually this would have to come down and be retired. We’ve also known that, eventually, we’ll have to retrieve it early for some unknown reason, so we have so many failsafes and redundant plans in place that all we had to do is just execute Plan B, which is go up early and get it. All the plans proved and came to fruition this year. Everybody executed flawlessly, and that was great.”

But he said even with the preparation for such an event, it’s still hard for many in the community.

“I can’t speak for everybody, but I know there’s a lot of sadness in that ‘The Major’ is being pulled and probably never going to fly again,” he said. ‘The community is tied to that because of Maj. Brent Taylor and especially Jennie Taylor and her family. So it’s sad to see it come off, even though you knew it was coming, but we have to remember that that was just the one flag representing Maj. Brent Taylor and next year — while that flag’s not going to be there — the same thing it represents will be there again every year forever. Hopefully people can understand that it’s not the closing of the book; it’s the closing of the chapter and the book’s going to keep going on every year and represent Maj. Brent Taylor and all of the veterans and first responders that serve for us.”

The flag was removed from the rigging wires that held it over Coldwater Canyon Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday, a large group  consisting of at least a few dozen volunteers took the flag back down the mountain for the final time with the sun setting in the west.

Clark said it was amazing to see how the community responded on such short notice.

“We have a great community that has really rallied around the flag,” he said. “Whenever we needed anything, whether it’s an emergency or planned, we just get an amazing turnout and we can’t thank the community enough for said turnout because we can’t carry this up there by ourselves. We can do a lot of things by ourselves, but we can’t make this happen by ourselves and we need the community to make it happen.”

Though “The Major” may be retiring from flight for good, Bosen said there will still be continued duties for it in the future.

“We will repair it,” she said.

Plans include static displays at events such as rodeos, parades and other events that pose little risk for further wear and tear. In the meantime, a new flag will be purchased and hung over Coldwater Canyon next year around Veterans Day.

According to a joint press release from the Honor the Hero Foundation and the Major Brent Taylor Foundation, a public flag retirement ceremony for “The Major” will be announced at a later date.