DeWine orders flags lowered to honor Ohio soldier

COLUMBUS (AP) — Gov. Mike DeWine has ordered flags in parts of the state lowered to half-staff to honor an Ohio soldier killed in Afghanistan.

The Republican governor today ordered U.S. and Ohio flags flown at half-staff at all public buildings and grounds throughout Williams County and at the Ohio Statehouse, the Vern Riffe Center and the Rhodes State Office Tower in Columbus. The order honoring Pfc. Brandon Kreischer, of Stryker, is effective until sunset the day of his funeral. Details about when the funeral will be haven’t been announced.

The Defense Department says the 20-year-old died Monday from “wounds sustained in a combat related incident” in southern Afghanistan. Kreischer was assigned to the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Stryker is in northwestern Ohio’s Williams County.