photo by: Contributed

KU alumnus Ahmad Baset Azizi sounds Taps for Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, a National Guard soldier who was shot to death in November in Washington, D.C.

When National Guard Soldier Sarah Beckstrom died on Thanksgiving, the day after being shot in Washington, D.C., KU graduate Baset Azizi spent a sleepless night wondering what he could do to ease the pain “even just a little” — of Beckstrom’s grieving family, of her military brethren and of thousands of Afghan immigrants in the United States who shared a national identity with the alleged shooter.

“My heart broke,” he said. “Because Sarah’s death involved an Afghan individual, the responsibility I felt to honor her carries a deeply personal weight.”

photo by: U.S. Department of Justice

Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, a National Guard soldier, died on Nov. 27, 2025, after being shot the previous day by a gunman in Washington, D.C.

Azizi, 26, who goes by Baset, was born in the chaotic city of Kabul during the Taliban’s first regime, not long before 9/11. Despite music being forbidden in Afghanistan, he developed a talent for the trumpet and was able at age 16 to attend a prestigious music academy in the United States. He has been here ever since.

In 2022, as he graduated from KU and as the Afghan government collapsed once again, his parents and three sisters — who, as women, would suffer extreme oppression under the Taliban — joined him. The family now resides in Johnson County, where, like thousands of immigrants, they are rebuilding their lives in a political climate that can be daunting, and even dangerous, for the foreign born, but also comparatively full of promise.

America — and Lawrence — “welcomed me like a son,” Baset said, and his family, despite increasingly worrisome national rhetoric, has also felt that embrace locally. “People who had no reason to care showed me kindness that changed my life.”

His desire to repay that kindness — and the little brass instrument that brought him here — made it obvious how he should honor Beckstrom: He would sound Taps for her.

“I did this not as an Afghan or an immigrant, but simply as a human being grieving for another human being,” he said. In a moment of national grief, “I stood with the country that stood with me and honored the life of a young woman who gave her life in service.”

Baset reached out to Beckstrom’s family and offered to play the traditional military tribute at her funeral. When he was told that the service was going to be strictly private, he made a recording of Taps in Lawrence and sent it to the family via Beckstrom’s cousin.

Though he says the gesture was rooted in something larger than his national identity, he’s still mindful that the actions of one individual should not define a whole community.

“Many Afghans, refugees and immigrants like me are grateful, peaceful and deeply respectful of American values and the service members who protect them,” said Baset, who has spent the years since his graduation working with nonprofits and helping others navigate the immigration process.

Beckstrom, 20, was a military police officer with the 863rd Military Police Company in the West Virginia Army National Guard. She was buried with full military honors Dec. 9 in Grafton, West Virginia. She was mobilized late last summer to Washington, D.C., as part of President Trump’s effort to increase policing in cities of his choosing.

Beckstrom’s accused killer, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, also allegedly shot a 24-year-old male guardsman, who survived. Lakanwal worked with the CIA in Afghanistan and was evacuated from the country in 2021. He was granted asylum in April by the Trump administration, according to The Associated Press.

photo by: Contributed

Ahmad Baset Azizi sounds Taps for Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, a National Guard soldier who was shot to death in November in Washington, D.C.