Skydivers parachute into Army Golden Knight’s funeral

CINCINNATI — Army hero and star skydiver Corey Hood returned Saturday to the Butler County football field where he first learned to battle.

Hood’s flag draped coffin was carried into Lakota West High School’s stadium as nearly a thousand filled the stands, honoring the Army master sergeant who grew up in West Chester Township.

A 2001 Lakota West graduate who played football and wrestled for the school, Hood died last Sunday from injuries suffered Aug. 15 during a parachute performance.

His Army Golden Knights team was jumping during the Chicago Air and Water show when a collision between Hood and another parachutist resulted in Hood’s eventually fatal injuries.

The 32-year-old veteran of five military tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he earned two Bronze Stars, joined the acclaimed Golden Knights in 2010 and had performed more than 200 jumps throughout the country.

Childhood friend Adam Price praised Hood for his patriotism, devotion to friends and courage.

“Corey would run toward gunfire, not away from it. And he’d give you the shirt off his back,” said Price.

“When he walked, he cast the shadow of a giant,” he said.

Hood’s former prep football coach agreed.

“He was highly competitive and didn’t want to lose at anything,” recalled Lakota West Football Coach Larry Cox. “I think it correlated with why he became such a great soldier.”

“He always had a smile on his face and he liked to have fun. But when it came time to get busy, he got busy,” said Cox.

Hood had said he wished to someday parachute into a Lakota West football game.

Saturday, a team of fellow military parachutists lived a version of that dream for him, diving from a plane high over West Chester Township and gliding on to the field prior to the funeral service.

As if to further underscore the dangerous nature of elite parachuting, one skydiver suffered a broken ankle on landing. He was transported to a local hospital with no interruption of the service.

Friend Ben Humphrey thanked the crowd “in recognizing an American hero.”