4 Reasons Flag Was At Half-Staff In Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- On nearly 90 percent of days last year, one or more states were flying the American flag at half-staff to memorialize the deaths of military members, public officials, police, first responders, prominent citizens, and victims of mass killings and disasters, The Associated Press found in analyzing information requested from all 50 states and the federal government.

There were four instances in which Gov. Mark Dayton ordered the flag flown at half-staff last year on at least some government property, not including proclamations that came from the federal government:

-- Feb. 3: Immortal Four Chaplains Day, honoring four chaplains aboard an army transport ship in 1943 who sacrificed their lives to save others after it was struck by a torpedo.

-- Sept. 9: St. Paul firefighter and medic Shane Clifton, who had a heart attack while on duty

-- Sept. 27: National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Day

-- Oct. 23: Aitkin County Deputy and Aitkin volunteer firefighter Steven Sandberg, who was killed after a hospital patient grabbed his weapon and shot him

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