President Joseph Biden has ordered flags lowered to honor General Colin Powell, who died earlier today.

A former United States Secretary of State, an American politician, diplomat, statesman and four-star general, Powell died of COVID-19 complications. In announcing Powell’s death, his family said he had been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. Peggy Cifrino, Powell’s longtime aide, said he had also been treated in recent years for multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that impairs the body’s ability to fight infection.

At the White House Monday, President Biden said Powell “embodied the highest ideals of both warrior and diplomat.”

Noting Powell’s rise from a childhood in a fraying New York City neighborhood, Biden said, “He believed in the promise of America because he lived it. And he devoted much of his life to making that promise a reality for so many others.”

Biden’s proclamation called the late general “a patriot of unmatched honor and dignity. The son of immigrants, born in New York City, raised in Harlem and the South Bronx, a graduate of the City College of New York, he rose to the highest ranks of the United States military and to advise four Presidents. He believed in the promise of America because he lived it. And he devoted much of his life to making that promise a reality for so many others. He led with his personal commitment to the democratic values that make our country strong. He repeatedly broke racial barriers, blazing a trail for others to follow, and was committed throughout his life to investing in the next generation of leadership. Colin Powell was a good man who I was proud to call my friend, and he will be remembered in history as one of our great Americans.”

Biden called for American flags to be lowered to half-staff, and to remain so until sunset Friday, October 22.

Accordingly, since no flag should fly higher than the US flag, all other flags — including state, municipal, corporate, or otherwise — should also be lowered during this same duration of time.

Newtown Hook & Ladder firefighters were scheduled for flag duty Monday evening. Firefighters were planning to lower the flag on the Main Street flagpole at 6 pm.