Updated

Updated · Newsweek · Jul 31

New York, Colorado and Arizona Lower Flags for 3 Honorees as Tributes Span July 31-Aug. 1

Updated

Updated · Newsweek · Jul 31

New York, Colorado and Arizona Lower Flags for 3 Honorees as Tributes Span July 31-Aug. 1

Q: What connects a fallen soldier, a brave firefighter, and a historic statesman in a rare, simultaneous moment of nationwide mourning?

They were linked by overlapping half-staff flag orders in three states, creating a rare shared public mourning for lives defined by service. New York lowered flags on July 31 for Staff Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, a Queens native killed July 17 in an attack at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. Gov. Kathy Hochul said Rampersad, who served with the 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment in Germany and was posthumously promoted, embodied courage and selflessness. Colorado also lowered flags on July 31 for Nathan Matthews, a 43-year-old U.S. Wildland Fire Service firefighter who died July 24 from injuries suffered in the June 27 Knowles Fire burnover in Mesa County. The incident also killed three other firefighters. Gov. Jared Polis paired the tribute with a memorial procession from the Denver Federal Center to Grand Junction. Arizona ordered flags lowered on Aug. 1 for the burial of Carl Kunasek, the former Arizona Senate president and longtime public servant who died July 20 at 94. Gov. Katie Hobbs cited his decades of service, including work in the Legislature, on the Arizona Corporation Commission, and in helping create AHCCCS, the state’s Medicaid program. What connects them is not a single event, but a simultaneous act of remembrance: three governors using one of the country’s most visible symbols of grief to honor military sacrifice, firefighting heroism and enduring civic leadership at the same moment.

Q: What hidden dangers during a tragic June burnover ultimately claimed the life of a veteran helitack firefighter weeks later?

The hidden dangers were the extreme fire conditions during the June 27 Knowles Fire burnover: powerful 30-to-50 mph winds, very dry fuels and heavy smoke that drove visibility to “near zero,” preventing a helicopter from landing to rescue the crew before the fire overtook them. Nathan Matthews, a 43-year-old veteran firefighter assigned to the Rifle Helitack crew, was one of five firefighters caught in that burnover in western Colorado. Investigators said the crew had discussed a helicopter pickup and reported fire near their position, but when the aircraft arrived, smoke held low to the ground by strong winds made landing impossible. With evacuation cut off, the firefighters deployed fire shelters as the fire swept over them from the southwest. Three firefighters — Emily Barker, Nick Hutcherson and Sydney Watson — died at the scene. Matthews survived initially but suffered critical burn injuries and died weeks later, on July 24, while receiving medical care. A preliminary federal report described the blaze as showing “extreme fire behavior,” accelerated by low moisture, dry vegetation and strong winds. The full serious-accident investigation is still underway.

Q: How did a deployment to a Jordanian air base end in a tragic attack that devastated a close-knit Queens community?

Staff Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad’s deployment to Muwaffaq Salti Air Base ended in tragedy when the base was struck on July 17 in an Iranian missile attack, killing the 28-year-old Queens soldier and turning a distant conflict into a deeply personal loss for Ozone Park. Rampersad, an Ozone Park resident who served with the 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment under the 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade in Germany, was deployed to Jordan as part of a U.S. mission linked to regional operations. The Pentagon said she was killed during the attack on the Jordanian base, one of the deadliest recent strikes on U.S. forces in the region. She was later posthumously promoted to staff sergeant. The loss hit her Queens community especially hard because Rampersad was not only a soldier but a familiar local presence. Born in Trinidad and raised in New York from early childhood, she attended Forest Hills High School and John Jay College, played drums in her church, ran track, and was remembered by relatives as someone who defended others and helped her immigrant family build a life in the United States. That is why the aftermath was so visible in Ozone Park. Neighbors lowered flags, left porch lights on, held a candlelight vigil, and lined the streets for her funeral procession. Her death at a remote air base in Jordan became, for this close-knit Queens neighborhood, the loss of a daughter, friend and hometown hero.

3 articles · Updated · Newsweek · Jul 31

Three states ordered flags to half-staff on July 31 and Aug. 1, creating overlapping observances for a soldier killed in Jordan, a firefighter who died after a wildfire burnover, and a former Arizona Senate president.
New York lowered flags Friday for Staff Sergeant Angel S. Rampersad, a Queens native posthumously promoted after she was killed July 17 in an enemy attack at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan.
Colorado also lowered flags July 31 for wildland firefighter Nathan Matthews, who died July 24 from injuries suffered in a June 27 burnover on the Knowles fire that killed three other firefighters.
Arizona ordered flags lowered Aug. 1 for the burial of Carl Kunasek, 94, a former Senate president credited with helping create the state's Medicaid program, AHCCCS.
The multistate orders underscore how governors use half-staff directives as a public mourning ritual for military service, first responders and long-serving civic leaders.