Flags on government buildings across New York have been ordered to be flown at half-staff Wednesday to honor a soldier from Medford who died last week in Afghanistan .

Gov. David A. Paterson issued the directive Monday to honor Staff Sgt. Keith Bishop, 28, a Green Beret who died Oct. 26 from wounds suffered when the MH-47 helicopter he was aboard crashed just after takeoff in northwestern Afghanistan.

Assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group out of Fort Bragg , N.C., Bishop was one of 10 Americans killed after a nighttime drug and arms interdiction mission.

Bishop, who graduated from Patchogue -Medford High School in 1999, joined the Army in 2002 and lived near Fort Bragg with his wife, Maggie. He had been a member of a Special Operations team working to stem the heroin-producing opium trade that helps finance the anti-U.S. insurgency.

Seven U.S. military personnel and three civilians, agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, died in the crash.

In a prepared statement, Paterson said: "On behalf of all New Yorkers, I extend our deepest condolences to the family, friends and fellow soldiers of Staff Sgt. Bishop. We mourn his death, but will honor his memory and celebrate his selfless service to our country."