Governor orders flags lowered on Nov. 26

November 25, 2011 toddvogts Personal Notes 0

Fallen SoldierIMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 22, 2011

For more information, contact:
Sherriene Jones-Sontag
785.368.7138 office
[email protected]

 

Governor Orders Flags Lowered on Saturday, November 26th,
in honor of SPC James Burnett, Jr.

Topeka – Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has ordered flags in the State of Kansas to be flown at half-staff on Saturday, November 26th, in honor of SPC James Burnett, Jr., 21, who died on November 16th, 2011, while serving in the U.S. Army in Kandahar province, Afghanistan.

“On behalf of the state of Kansas, I offer my deepest sympathy to the family and loved ones of Specialist Burnett,”Governor Brownback said.  “James embodied the essence of ‘service before self’. He is a hero in the hearts of Kansans and all Americans.”

SPC Burnett, of Wichita, and Pfc. Matthew C. Collin, 22, of Navarre, Fla., were killed in action after an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near their vehicle while their unit was on patrol.

He was assigned to  1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division stationed in Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

Memorial services for SPC Burnett with be held on Saturday, November 26th at the Community Church of Christ in Lowndes, Missouri. Visitation will be on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and the service with full military honors will be held at 2:00 p.m.

Burnett joined the Army in 2009 after he graduated from Clearwater High School.  He is survived by his fiancée, Amy Keeler of Wichita, his mother, Rebecca Metcalf, also of Wichita, and his father, James Burnett Sr., of Advance, MO.

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About toddvogts 850 Articles
Todd R. Vogts, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of media at Sterling College in Kansas. Previously, he taught yearbook, newspaper, newsmagazine, and online journalism in various Kansas high schools, and he ran a weekly newspaper in rural Kansas. He continues to freelance as a professional journalist from time to time. Also, Vogts is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), the Journalism Education Association (JEA), and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), among others. He earned his Master Journalism Educator (MJE) certification from JEA in 2022. When he’s not teaching or writing, he runs his mobile disk jockey service and takes part in other entrepreneurial ventures. He can be reached at twitter.com/toddvogts or via his website at www.toddvogts.com.