GOVERNOR LINGLE ORDERS U.S. AND STATE FLAGS TO FLY AT HALF-STAFF IN HONOR OF PETTY OFFICER 1ST CLASS VICTOR W. JEFFRIES

For Immediate Release:  January 15, 2008

HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle has ordered United States and Hawai‘i state flags at state, county and federal buildings throughout Hawai‘i to fly at half-staff on Tuesday, January 22, 2008, from sunrise to sunset, in honor of Petty Officer 1st Class Victor W. Jeffries of Honolulu, who died while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Jeffries will be interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific on this date.

Jeffries, a Navy reservist, died on December 30, 2007 as a result of injuries suffered Dec. 24 in a vehicular accident in Kuwait.  He was a Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group reservist who was mobilized on a six-month deployment in Kuwait.  Jeffries was a Navy reservist assigned to Navy Operational Support Center, Pearl Harbor.  He was a teacher and coach at Farrington High School. 

“Our state and our nation are grateful for the sacrifice and contributions of Petty Officer 1st Class Jeffries,” said Governor Lingle.  “He served as a role model for many Hawai‘i youth in the classroom, and his patriotism and bravery serve as an inspiration for all of us.”

A law (H.R. 692) signed by the President in June authorizes the governor of a state to order the national flag to be flown at half-staff following the death of a member of the Armed Forces who dies while serving on active duty. 

Based on this new law, Governor Lingle, in consultation with State Adjutant General, Major General Robert Lee, established a state policy of lowering the national flag to honor an Armed Forces service member killed in action whose “home of record” is Hawai‘i.

• Read the proclamation.

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For more information, contact:

Lenny Klompus
Senior Advisor – Communications
Phone: (808) 586-7708

Russell Pang
Chief of Media Relations
Phone: (808) 586-0043

Leighton Siu
Chief of Protocol
Phone: (808) 586-0034