Flags at half-staff Saturday in honor of Kentucky soldier killed in Iraq

Flags at all state office buildings across Kentucky will be lowered to half-staff this Saturday in honor of U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, a 36-year-old Kentuckian who died last month in Iraq.

Gov. Andy Beshear ordered the tribute from sunrise to sunset as funeral services are held for Pruitt, a Bardstown native.

Pruitt was among six U.S. service members killed March 12 when a KC-135 refueling tanker crashed in western Iraq during Operation Epic Fury. She was assigned to the 6th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.

Proper protocol calls for the flag to be raised to full staff briefly before being lowered to half-staff, and again raised before it is lowered at the end of the day.