Flags Lowered To Honor Fallen Soldier

 HARTFORD (AP) — Governor M. Jodi Rell is ordered state and US flags lowered to half staff Tuesday to honor a Hamden soldier who was killed during the Vietnam War. Army Sgt 1st Class John T. Gallagher was part of a helicopter crew shot down over Laos in 1968 while on patrol. Army officials say it was approaching a landing zone when it was struck, and enemy fire thwarted attempts to reach the site.

Gallagher, who was 24, and four other crewmen were listed as missing in action until 2006, when the flight’s wreckage was found and the remains were identified. A military burial for Gallagher takes place Tuesday at Centerville Cemetery in Hamden.