Flags lowered Tuesday for fallen Air Force staff sergeant

LANSING, Mich.—By order of Gov. Rick Snyder, flags on all campuses of Western Michigan University and throughout Michigan will be lowered to half-staff Tuesday, May 2, in honor of Air Force Staff Sgt. Brandon M. Bosley, of Wasilla, Alaska, formerly of Iron Mountain.

Bosley, 31, died Friday, April 21, at Memorial Regional Hospital in Miami.

Brandon M. Bosley

Bosley graduated from Kingsford High School in 2004 and went on to attend Bay College and Lansing Community College. He enlisted in the United States Air Force in 2009, and completed basic training at Lakeland Air Force Base in San Antonio. He served as a crew chief staff sergeant with the F22 Fighters 525th Raptor Fighter Squadron. He was deployed twice to the United Arab Emirates and was stationed overseas in Japan and South Korea.

Bosley was stationed at Elmendorf-Richardson Joint AFB in Anchorage, Alaska, at the time of his death.

A service was held in his honor Saturday, April 29, in Iron Mountain.

Flags at half-staff

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.

When flown at half-staff, the U.S. flag should be hoisted first to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position. The flag should again be raised to the peak before it is lowered for the day.