March 05, 2009
Flags lowered to honor war casualty
Under a proclamation signed by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, the United States flag and the Illinois flag are to be at half-staff at all State of Illinois facilities in honor of an Illinois woman who died from injuries received in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan last month.
Flags are to be flown at half-staff until sunset, Saturday, March 7, in honor of Illinois Army National Guard Sgt. Simone A. Robinson.
Reports indicate that Robinson 21, of Robbins, died Sunday, March 1, at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. She was critically injured Jan. 17 in Kabul when the vehicle she was in was hit by an improvised explosive device.
Robinson is the 24th Illinois National Guard casualty in operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. She is the eighth Illinois National Guard soldier killed in Afghanistan in the last five months, according to reports.
She was assigned to Company E, 634th Brigade Support Battalion in Joliet. She joined the National Guard in 2004 and deployed to Afghanistan in August.