Pennsylvania post office renamed for Jewish airman killed in Afghanistan

JTA

(JTA) — A post office in Pennsylvania was renamed for a Jewish airman from Philadelphia who was killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt. Peter Taub, 30, died in December 2015 in a suicide attack on a patrol near Bagram Air Base by an assailant riding a motorcycle. Taub was assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

Taub grew up near the post office in Wyncote, a northern suburb of Philadelphia, that now bears his name. It was dedicated on Monday.

“Taub was a shining example of the best our country has to offer,” Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., who led efforts to rename the post office, said in a statement. “In his service to our nation, he exemplified unwavering patriotism and heroic bravery.

“Renaming this post office in his hometown is the least we can do to honor him.”

President Donald Trump approved the legislation to rename the post office in March.

Taub was married and his wife was pregnant with their second child at the time of his death. He had planned to join his family’s business, the popular sandwich shop Bub and Pop’s in downtown Washington, D.C. Taub was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Air Force Commendation Medal and Air Force Combat Action Medal.