HELENA – Gov. Brian Schweitzer has ordered that flags be flown at half-staff Friday to honor a soldier whose mother says was killed in an attack on an Army base in Louisiana earlier this month.
Billie Eisinger declined to provide details of the circumstances surrounding her son Byron Whitcomb’s June 19 death at Fort Polk, saying Whitcomb’s wife asked her not to.
Marcus Carey, a 25-year-old Ohio civilian, has been charged with murder and attempted murder after one person was killed and another was injured on the base. The FBI is investigating the attack but has not released the names of the victims or any details.
Whitcomb, a private, was born in Missoula and grew up in Whitefish. He joined the Army in June 2009.