Flags To Be Lowered For NY Native Killed In Afghanistan

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered flags on state government buildings be flown at half-staff in honor of a Buffalo-area native who died in Afghanistan.

Flags will be lowered Tuesday to honor 30-year-old Capt. Andrew Byers. A 2004 graduate of Clarence High School, Byers graduated four years later from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

The Pentagon announced Friday that Byers and another soldier, Sgt. 1st Class Ryan A. Gloyer of Pennsylvania, were killed a day earlier in Kunduz (KUHN'-dooz) province. Defense officials said the soldiers had gotten off a helicopter and were moving with Afghan forces when they came under fire.

Byers was living in Rolesville, North Carolina, at the time of his death. He was assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group at Fort Carson, Colorado.

[STORY BY: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS]