Lowered flags honor fallen Kansas soldiers

Flags are flying at half staff on the Pittsburg State University campus and at other state buildings to honor two Kansans killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The flags are lowered by order of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

The governor ordered flags lowered on Aug. 13 in honor of Spc. Ronald Andrew Schmidt, a member of Battery C, 1st Battalion, 161st Field Artillery who died August 3rd from injuries sustained August 2nd in a one vehicle accident while serving in Iraq.

Flags will be lowered on Aug. 14 in honor of Spc. William Joseph Mulvihill, Leavenworth, who was assigned to the Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas, who was killed in Afghanistan on Friday, August 1st.

Spc. Schmidt enlisted in the Kansas Army National Guard's Detachment 1, Battery C, 1st Battalion, 161st Field Artillery, Newton, on January 27th, 2007 during his senior year at Newton High School. Upon graduation from Newton High in May 2007 he attended training as a cannon crewman. He transferred to Battery C, 1st Battalion, 161st Field Artillery, Kingman, to deploy with the unit to Iraq. He was promoted to private first class on November 28th, 2007, and then to specialist.

Spc. Schmidt was awarded a Bronze Star, Iraqi Campaign Ribbon, Good Conduct medal, Overseas Service Bar and Armed Forces Reserve Medal with M device.

Spc. Schmidt is survived by his mother, Andrea Maria Schmidt, of Newton, and his uncle Paul Schmidt, of Goddard.

Spc. Mulvihill was a graduate of Leavenworth High School where he was a member of the Junior Guard and the Leavenworth R.O.T.C. program. After graduation, Spc. Mulvihill joined the United States Army where he was awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the NATO award and the Good Conduct award.

In July of 2007, Sebelius signed an executive order allowing the flags of the United States and State of Kansas to be displayed at half-staff throughout the state when a member of the Kansas National Guard or Kansas Air National Guard is killed in the line of duty, or when a Kansas resident serving as a member of the United States Armed Forces is killed in the line of duty. In each instance, the governor will designate the date for flags to fly at half-staff.

Executive orders can be found online at: http://www.governor.ks.gov/executive/Orders/

---Pitt State---