AUGUSTA (AP) – Gov. John Baldacci ordered United States and Maine flags flown at half- staff from sunrise to sunset on Sunday in honor of Army Sgt. William Samuel “Jack” Jackson II, who grew up in Thomaston and was killed in Iraq earlier this month.

Jackson, who was 29, died in Ramadi from a roadside bomb on Nov. 11 with two other soldiers, Staff Sgt. Misael Martinez, 24, Chapel Hill, N.C., and Sgt. Angel De Jesus Lucio Ramirez, 22, Pacoima, Calif.

The men were all assigned to the 1st Battalion, 16th Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Giessen, Germany.

Jackson’s memorial service in Maine will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at Georges Valley High School in Thomaston. Jackson is to be buried with full military honors on Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Jackson’s family has set up a fund to benefit his widow, Katie, and her four children whose ages range from 7 months to 6 years. Katie Jackson lives in Saginaw, Mich., but her husband grew up in Thomaston, where his family is well-known.

“The family wanted to do this (local memorial service and fund) because quite a number of people were wondering how they could help,” Pastor Scott Townsend of the Calvary Baptist Church in Warren said.

Jackson’s parents, William and Carolyn Jackson of Warren, are longtime members of the Calvary congregation. Jackson attended Christian schools and graduated from the Calvary Family School in 1995, and later attended Northland Baptist Bible College in Dunbar, Wisc., where he met his wife.

Jackson had served a hitch in the U.S. Marines before returning to civilian life and working for Telford Aviation in Maine. He re-enlisted, with the Army, and was deployed to Iraq in January.

Katie Jackson will be unable to attend the Maine memorial events because her family will be holding a memorial service in Michigan today.

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