Flags lowered Wednesday for 1st Lt. Todd Lambka

Contact: Cara Barnes

Lambka

LANSING, Mich.—By order of Gov. Rick Snyder, U.S. flags on all campuses of Western Michigan University and throughout Michigan will be lowered to half-staff Wednesday, Aug. 15, in honor of 1st Lt. Todd Lambka, of Fraser, Mich.

Lambka, 25, died Aug. 1 from injuries sustained by an improvised explosive device in Paktikap province, Afghanistan.

Todd Lambka was a 2006 graduate from Eisenhower High School in Shelby Township, Mich., and graduated in 2010 from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion of the 28th Infantry Regiment in the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kan.

Lambka was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart posthumously. His other awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghan Campaign Medal with Bronze Service Star, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon and the Parachutist Badge. He also received posthumously the Basic NATO Medal and Combat Infantryman Badge.

Services

Visitation will be held Tuesday, Aug. 14, from 3 to 9 p.m. and Wednesday, Aug. 15, from 1 to 9 p.m., at Wasik Funeral Home in Shelby Township. A memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.

Former Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm issued a proclamation in 2003, requiring U.S. flags to be lowered to half-staff throughout 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.