19APR2010 Half-Staff today?

[GCLARK]

I have only found one site that says today is a day of observation, by flying the Flag at Half-Staff for the victims of OKC bombing, and that of terrorism. Can anyone confirm this? Today is the 19th of April 2010.

[PRGringo]

You were right, 4/19 is the anniversary of the OKC bombing. I do not know if it is a nationally observed half-staff day.

[tking]

I heard that President Obama said that the flag is to be at half mast until the end of April because of the tornado in Mississippi and the oil rig. Can anyone confirm?

[Peter Ansoff]

I heard that President Obama said that the flag is to be at half mast until the end of April because of the tornado in Mississippi and the oil rig.

Not exactly. The President has issued two proclamations related to this. The first one, on 12 April, stated the flags should be half-masted at all Government facilities in West Virginia until 18 April in memory of the West Virginia mine workers. This is a bit unusual -- I don't offhand recall another example of a presidental proclamation that limited the half-masting to a particular geographical area.

The second proclamation was issued on 28 April, and declared that day to be "Workers Memorial Day." It mentioned the miners and also the oil rig workers, but did not call for half-masting the flag.

Coincidentally, the flag was half-masted on 29 April for the intermet of civil rights heroine Dorothy Height. That proclamation was issued on 26 April.

The best source for Presidential proclamations is the White House site:

Proclamations | The White House

Peter Ansoff

[tking]

Thanks Peter. I thought I heard something and when I went by the local state highway patrol, there flag wasn't at half-mast and that really ticked me off.