Base commander orders flags flown at half-staff

  • Published
  • By By Darren D. Heusel
  • Tinker Public Affairs
The death of a retired Air Force member's son last week lead to all U.S. and Oklahoma flags on Tinker being flown at half-staff on Wednesday.
   Col. Mark Correll, 72nd Air Base Wing and installation commander, followed the direction of Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry and ordered the flags to be flown at half-staff following the death of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Kevin Ray Brown, 38, a 1987 graduate of Harrah High School.
   Sergeant Brown died Sept. 25 in Iraq from wounds he suffered when an improvised explosive device, or roadside bomb, detonated near his vehicle.
   Sergeant Brown is the son of Richard Brown, who retired from the U.S. Air Force after 22 years. Richard Brown and his wife, Glenda, still reside in Harrah.
   Sergeant Brown, a member of the 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas, joined the military in September 1988 and was three weeks shy of ending his second tour in Iraq.
   Sergeant Brown, who last saw his parents in February when he was home on two weeks leave, is survived by his wife, Lena, and two daughters, Maria, 13, and Charlene, 14.
   Sergeant Brown was a decorated Soldier having earned the Army Commendation Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal among others.