Why weren't the flags ordered to half-staff for this tragedy. Because these men are considered to have been killed in the line of service. If flags were lowered for all military deaths then we would have had them down every day since the beginning of our prolonged wars in this century. The President had ordered flags lowered for the shootings at Fort Hood which while it also clearly involved deaths of those in the military, it was initially classified as a workplace shooting, not an active service death. And of course Obama was heavily criticized for that choice as well. Guess he can't win.