# When was the most recent time flags were lowered for an ordinary person dying?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-most-recent-time-flags-were-lowered-for-an-ordinary-person-dying/1023000>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 13, 2025, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-most-recent-time-flags-were-lowered-for-an-ordinary-person-dying/1023000 "2025-09-13T00:22:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2025, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-most-recent-time-flags-were-lowered-for-an-ordinary-person-dying/1023000/21 "2025-09-14T18:01:22Z")

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I think it’s debatable, though, whether an astronaut counts as having “a role in the government”. He was employed by the government, but then, so are, say, postal carriers. He certainly had no role in governing.

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**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2025, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-most-recent-time-flags-were-lowered-for-an-ordinary-person-dying/1023000/22 "2025-09-27T21:31:44Z")

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The reason he was honored is that he was a government employee (albeit one of near unique compliments), which is the OP’s point.

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