Beshear orders flags to half-staff in honor of Kentucky airman who died in World War II

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Gov. Andy Beshear has ordered that flags at all state buildings be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Tuesday, Oct. 6, in honor of an Army airman from Kentucky who died during World War II but was not accounted for until November 2025.

According to the governor’s office, U.S. Army Air Forces Pfc. Weber S. Underwood, 25, of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, was a member of 28th Materiel Squadron, 20th Air Base Group, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December 1941. Underwood was captured and, according to prisoner of war camp records, died June 3, 1942. Read more here.

Underwood will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, Tuesday.

Beshear encourages individuals, businesses and organizations throughout the Commonwealth to join in this tribute.