I want to clarify to the readers about the rules of when and how long the American flag is lowered. The first recorded instance of flying a flag at half-mast was in 1612, when the crew of the British ship "Heart's Ease" lowered its flag to half-mast after its captain, James Hall, was killed.

In 1954, President Eisenhower issued a proclamation establishing the proper times to fly at half-mast. The White House has made these rules the protocol since. According to this flag code: "The flag shall be flown at half-staff 30 days from the death of the President or a former President; 10 days form the day of death of the Vice-President, the Chief Justice or a retired Chief Justice of the United States or the Speaker of the House of Representatives; from the day of death until internment of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a Secretary of an executive or military department, a former Vice-President, or the Governor of a state, territory, or possession; and on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress."

Senator McCain was a member of Congress and followed this last rule. The president can always issue a proclamation, which he did later, to display it for a different time frame.

Capt. Kathryn Johnson

USN (Ret.)

East Lyme