Tomblin Orders Flags Lowered

{Charleston,  West Virginia}...Governor Earl Ray Tomblin is ordering the lowering of flags Tuesday at state facilities in honor of West Virginia National Guard pilot 42 year old Michael Scott Lakin of Charleston who was killed December 22nd while performing stunt aerial maneuvers during a recertification skills test at the Union County Airport in Marysville, Ohio. Lakin was commissioned as an officer in the Unites States Marine Corps. He left active duty and later joined the 130th West Virginia Air National Guard and spent over a year flying combat missions into Iraq and Afghanistan. As a member and flight instructor of the State Division of Aviation, Lakin piloted the State's King Air 350 and Cessna Grand Caravan airplanes.