Skydivers at funeral honor Army Golden Knights parachutist killed in Chicago air show accident

WEST CHESTER, Ohio — A solo Army Golden Knights parachutist honored a comrade’s dream by landing on the high school football field where hundreds of mourners gathered for his funeral Saturday, a week after he was involved in a deadly accident at the Chicago Air and Water Show.

The military skydiver, joined by a team of professionals, fulfilled the wish of U.S. Army Master Sgt. Corey Hood, who had long wanted to parachute on to the field where he played as a youth.

“He was highly competitive and didn’t want to lose at anything,” Larry Cox, his high school football coach, told hundreds of mourners who gathered in the stands at Lakota West High School in the Cincinnati. suburb of West Chester, Ohio — Hood’s hometown. “I think it correlated with why he became such a great soldier.”

Hood, 32, died Aug. 16, a day after colliding with a Navy parachutist during a jump at the Chicago show.

Before joining the Golden Knights, the army’s elite parachute performance team, Hood had served five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Highly decorated, he was awarded two Bronze Stars for heroism.

“Corey would run toward gunfire, not away from it,” his childhood friend Adam Price told mourners.

Hood rose quickly through the ranks and made sergeant first class at a young age. The Army on Monday posthumously promoted him to master sergeant.

Hood was buried during a private ceremony after the funeral.