ALBANY - Governor David Paterson has directed that flags on New York State government buildings be flown at half-staff on Tuesday, June 30, in honor of a Fort Drum soldier killed in Afghanistan on June 21, 2009.

Sergeant Rodrigo Munguia Rivas, whose home is in Germantown, Maryland, died in a rocket attack on his base at Bagram. He was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division’s 710th Brigade Support Battalion of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team.

“On behalf of all New Yorkers, I wish to extend our condolences and sympathy to the family of Sgt. Munguia Rivas, his friends, and his fellow soldiers in the 10th Mountain Division,” Paterson said. “Though he was not a native New Yorker, we consider all Fort Drum soldiers one of our own and we honor Sgt. Munguia Rivas’s service and will forever remember his sacrifice.”