Corzine Orders Flags Half Staff Monday to Honor Fallen Soldier

TRENTON – In honor of Army Staff Sgt.Jason M. Butkus, Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed the following Executive Order Sept.. 21 calling for the United States and New Jersey flags to fly at half-staff on Sept. 24.
The order affects all county, state and local offices.
Army Staff Sgt.Jason M. Butkus was born in Arlington Heights, Ill., and raised in West Milford. He graduated from West Milford High School, where he was a member of the track and wrestling teams.
Butkus volunteered for enlistment in the Army in 1995, and completed basic and advanced individual training at Fort Benning, Ga.
Butkus served his country at home and abroad with the 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; with the 2nd Infantry Division, Republic of Korea; at Fort Wainwright, Alaska; and as a training instructor at the U.S. Army Training Center, Fort Jackson, S.C.
He graduated from both the Army Airborne Course and the Army Air Assault Course and attained his goal of becoming a United States Army non-commissioned officer, and was assigned in October 2006 to A Company, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas, and then deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom; and
Butkus’s “distinguished record of service as a United States Army infantry and noncommissioned officer in elite units and assignments is testament to his professionalism, skill, and courage,” Corzine stated in a release.
Butkus has received four Army Commendation Medals, five Army Achievement Medals, the Korean Defense Service Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal, two Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbons, the Army Service Ribbon, three Overseas Service Ribbons, two National Defense Service Medals, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Expert Infantryman’s Badge, the Expert Marksmanship Badge, the Basic Parachute Badge, the Air Assault Badge and the Senior Parachute Badge; and
He will be awarded some of our nation’s highest military honors, such as the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, and the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, posthumously; and
Butkus was a “committed and highly trained professional soldier and infantry leader as well as a loving father, son, and brother whose memory lives in the hearts of his family and fellow soldiers,” the governor stated.
Butkus’s patriotism and dedicated service to his country and his fellow soldiers make it appropriate and fitting for the State of New Jersey to remember him and his family, to mark his passing, and to honor his memory;