Bevin orders flags to half staff Saturday

Gov. Matt Bevin has directed that flags at all state office buildings be lowered to half-staff on Saturday in honor of a Kentucky sailor who was killed in action during World War II but whose remains were only recently recovered and returned home.

U.S. Navy Fireman 1st Class Samuel W. Crowder of Louisville was aboard the USS Oklahoma on Dec. 7, 1941, during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. At age 35, he was among 429 crewmen killed when that battleship was torpedoed and capsized.

Unidentified remains from the USS Oklahoma rested in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu until June 2015. At that time, the U.S. Department of Defense authorized those remains to be exhumed and examined through DNA analysis and other advanced scientific techniques. Crowder’s family was notified of his identification in late August 2017.

Funeral services with full military honors for Crowder will be held Saturday in Louisville.

Bevin encourages individuals, businesses, organizations and government agencies to join in this tribute by lowering the flag in honor of Crowder.

Flag status information is available at http://governor.ky.gov/flag-status.