Gov. Chris Christie has ordered flags to fly at half-staff on all state buildings to mark the passing of a New Jersey veteran who had been the oldest living recipient of the Medal of Honor.

American Flag
Mark Wilson, Getty Images
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Nicholas Oresko, a Bayonne native, was deployed to Europe in 1944. The Army master sergeant was badly wounded as he single-handedly took out two enemy bunkers during the Battle of the Bulge in 1945. He died Oct. 4 at a New Jersey hospital at the age of 96.

In 2011, the World War II veteran became the nation's oldest living Medal of Honor recipient.

Christie signed the flag order Wednesday.

A funeral service is scheduled for Oresko on Thursday at The Anna Maria Ciccone Theatre on the campus of Bergen Community College in Paramus.

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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