Above is a commissioned portrait of Gen. Colin Powell from the Smithsonian Institution.

Staff Report

INDIANAPOLIS – Gov. Eric Holcomb is directing flags to be flown at half-staff to honor the life and legacy of General Colin Powell, who died on Monday, Oct. 18, from complications of COVID-19.

Flags should be flown at half-staff immediately until sunset on Oct. 22.

Powell was 84. He had a type of blood cancer that suppresses the immune response. Even if fully vaccinated against Covid-19, those who are immunocompromised are at greater risk from the virus.

He was the first Black national security adviser during the end of Ronald Reagan’s presidency and the first African American chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush.