History of the F-100 Memorial ~ Part VIII

  • Published
  • By Army Spc. Lisa Pauli
Barnes Air National Guard Base, 104 Fighter Wing - Westfield, Mass --  Maj. John Southrey of Granby, Connecticut died when his jet collided with another jet near Wells, New York on September 17th, 1986. The pilot of the other plane, Michael Kohut, of Chicopee, Mass., survived the crash after being transported to Albany Medical Center Hospital with a fracture of the lower back. The two A-10s collided over wells, NY while enroute to the Ft Drum range in NY. Southrey joined the 104th in June of 1986 after serving nine years in the U.S. Air Force. A 1977 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. On one of his first assignments he served as a flight commander at the U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons School at Nellis AFB, Nevada. At the 104th he served as the chief of the Stan/Eval section.