Oregon Public Broadcasting

The Oregon State and American flags at the State Capitol in Salem --- and public buildings across the state -- will fly at half-staff Saturday.

Governor Ted Kulongoski ordered the move to honor Army Private First Class Richard Allen DeWater from Grants Pass.

DeWater died when a roadside bomb exploded as he walked a neighborhood East of Kabul in Afghanistan.

Mike Murphy is the Mayor of Grants Pass. He taught at Grants Pass High School when DeWater was a student.

Mike Murphy: “These are our neighbors that are going. And we want every one of them to come back home. And when an incident like this happens, it’s a poignant reminder that there’s serious risk involved and not everybody makes it.”

DeWater, who eventually moved to Topeka, Kansas is the 114th American servicemember with Oregon ties to die in Iraq or Afghanistan since September 11th, 2001.