COHASSET, Mass. (WWLP) –  Governor Maura Healey has ordered U.S. and Massachusetts flags to be lowered to half-staff Tuesday.

This order is in honor of Chief Special Warfare Operator Michael T. Ernst of Cohasset who died during free-fall parachute training at an airfield in Marana, Arizona, just outside Tucson while training with his fellow SEALs on February 19th.

Chief Special Warfare Operator Michael Ernst leaves behind his wife and two children, ages 2 and 5. He will be laid to rest at the Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday. 

The flags will remain lowered to half-staff through Friday, March 31st in honor of the victims of the tragedy in Nashville, Tennessee.

“As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on March 27, 2023, in Nashville, Tennessee, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, March 31, 2023.”

The White House Proclamation