Flags lowered Wednesday for Spc. Joseph PrentlerOct. 19, 2010 LANSING, Mich.--By order of Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm, U.S. flags on all campuses of Western Michigan University and throughout Michigan will be lowered Wednesday, Oct. 20, in honor of Army Spc. Joseph T. Prentler, of Fenwick, Mich., who died Oct. 4 in Mama Kariz, Afghanistan. Prentler, age 20, died from wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his military vehicle using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment in Vilseck, Germany. Prentler's family has requested that flags be lowered Wednesday, Oct. 20, the day of his funeral service at Greenville (Mich.) Community Church. Burial will follow at Fort Custer National Cemetery in Augusta, Mich. Visitation is being held from 4 to 8 p.m. today at Lux and Schnepp Funeral Home in Carson City, Mich. In December 2003, Gov. Granholm issued a proclamation requiring U.S. flags to be lowered to half-staff throughout the state of Michigan and on Michigan waters to honor Michigan servicemen and servicewomen killed in the line of duty. Michigan was among the first states to honor its fallen sons and daughters by lowering flags. Media contact: Tonya Durlach, (269) 387-8400, tonya.durlach@wmich.edu WMU News |