On the orders of Gov. Paterson, New York State has a new policy: Any time a soldier from New York, or even serving with a New York-based unit, is killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, flags on state government buildings will be lowered to half-staff. This practice began last week to honor soldiers from Fort Drum who were killed in Iraq on June 4.

I don’t know if other states already have the same policy, or if New York is the first. But I really hope the practice is maintained.