Flags in Southborough and across the state have been flying at half staff across the state for overlapping reasons this week.
Across the country, flags are lowered in honor of former First Lady Barbara Bush, through sunset on Saturday, April 21st. But that announcement, made yesterday, was one of multiple overlapping orders issued for this week (two of which I missed when they were made last Friday).
On Friday, April 13th, Governor Baker ordered the lowering to honor of Officer Sean Gannon of the Yarmouth Police Department who was tragically killed in the line of duty on Thursday, April 12, 2018. That order was “until further notice”. That was later updated to run through sunset on Wednesday, April 18th, the day he was laid to rest.
Later that day, the Governor added a that on Tuesday, April 17th from sunrise to sunset a simultaneous honor should be held for US Navy Ryan William Wainright of Attleboro, Massachusetts, who passed away on Thursday, March 29, 2018 in Bremerton, Washington.
On Tuesday, the Governor ordered that flags be lowered to half-staff at all state buildings from sunrise until sunset today, Thursday, April 19, 2018 in honor of Staff Sergeant Robert F. Campbell, MA Air National Guard, of Holliston, Massachusetts, who passed away on April 9, 2018.
The former First Lady’s funeral is planned for Saturday. Here is the Presidential proclomation in honor of Barbara Bush:
On this solemn day, we mourn the loss of Barbara Bush, an outstanding and memorable woman of character. As a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, military spouse, and former First Lady, Mrs. Bush was an advocate of the American family. Mrs. Bush lived a life that reminds us always to cherish our relationships with friends, family, and all acquaintances. In the spirit of the memory of Mrs. Bush, may we always remember to be kind to one another and to put the care of others first.
As a mark of respect for the memory of Barbara Bush, I hereby order, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, on the day of interment. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same period at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand eighteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-second.
DONALD J. TRUMP
(photo from Susan Fitzgerald)
