Body of St. George soldier killed in Syria returns home

The body of a Southern Utah soldier who died on a patrol mission in the Middle East returned home Thursday afternoon.

Thousands within the community of St. George gathered together along Main Street as a show of support, bringing their own signs, flags, and ribbons to honor the life of Sgt. Bryan “Cooper” Mount.

A military airplane carrying his body arrived at the St. George Regional Airport at approximately 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

A police escort and the Patriot Guard Riders formed a procession to accompany Mount’s hearse from the airport to Metcalf Mortuary.

25 year old Mount was an 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper killed in a “vehicle rollover accident July 21 while conducting reconnaissance operations” in eastern Syria, according to the Department of Defense.

The accident is under investigation, but it was “not due to enemy contact.”

A military airplane carrying his body arrived at the St. George Regional Airport at approximately 3:30 p.m. Thursday. A police escort and the Patriot Guard Riders formed a procession to accompany Mount’s hearse from the airport to Metcalf Mortuary.

Mount’s family called him a “gentle soul, nonjudgmental, accepting, and kind,” according to the family’s GoFundMe page.

“He ran cross country and was on the student council at Parowan High School. Cooper dreamed of having his own barber shop one day following his military service,” his aunt Summer Robertson wrote.