Flags lowered to honor war casualty

The United States flag and the Illinois flag will be at half-staff at all State of Illinois facilities beginning today, Wednesday, Jan. 16, in honor of an Illinois man killed while serving in the military in the war in Iraq, under a proclamation signed by Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich.

The flags will be at half-staff from sunrise Wednesday to sunset Friday, Jan. 18, in honor of U.S. Army Pvc. Phillip J. Pannier. Reports indicate that Pannier, 20, of Washburn, was one of three soldiers from Fort Campbell, Ky., killed Jan. 8 near Samarra during a firefight. He was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division.

At the recommendation of a suburban Barrington man, Blagojevich in December 2004 issued a proclamation also directing all State of Illinois facilities to lower their flags to half-staff on the day of a funeral for any Illinois National Guardsman killed in combat. The flags are then raised again to full-staff the following day.

In September, Blagojevich signed legislation requiring all state agencies to fly the U.S. flag, the Illinois flag, and appropriate military flags at half-staff for the death of an Illinois resident killed by hostile fire while a member of the U.S. Armed Forces, or for a law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty.