Flags to Fly at Half-Staff Saturday in Honor of Senior Chief Petty Officer Kraig M. Vickers

News Release from www.Hawaii.gov/gov

HONOLULU –Governor Neil Abercrombie this morning ordered that all national and Hawai'i flags at all State offices and agencies as well as the Hawai'i National Guard are to be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Saturday, September 3, 2011 in memory of Senior Chief Petty Officer Kraig M. Vickers.

U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician SCPO Vickers was a member of an East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit which was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Thirty servicemembers, including SCPO Vickers, died August 6, 2011 in Wardak province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when their CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed.

SCPO Vickers, 36, was a 1992 Maui High School graduate. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, September 3, 2011 at the Maui Arts and Cultural Theater. SCPO Vickers will be laid to rest at Valley Isle Memorial Park in Haiku.

“We honor Senior Chief Petty Officer Vickers and all of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice as a result of their duty to the nation and fellow soldiers,” stated Governor Abercrombie. “My deepest sympathies go out to Senior Chief Petty Officer Vickers’s family and friends.”

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