LOWNDES COUNTY, GA -
Valdosta City Council members are considering a request from Moody Air Force to relocate a city landmark.
An F-86 aircraft has been next to Mathis Auditorim for about 30 years.
Now the base wants to relocate the memorial to its air park.
The memorial was created in honor of Valdosta native Lyn Davis McIntosh.
He was in the air force and was killed during a rescue mission in Iran for which he volunteered.
Here is some information from Thursday's city council meeting:
HISTORY: Lyn Davis McIntosh was born in Valdosta on October 11, 1946.
He went to school in Valdosta and graduated from Valdosta State College
in 1968. He also taught math at Valdosta Junior High School. In 1969, he
enlisted in the Air Force and married Ann Dixon. In the years that followed,
he became the father of three sons, Scott, Mark, and Stewart, served as an
Air Force pilot and commander throughout much of the world, and earned a
long list of commendations. In 1979, Major McIntosh joined the 8th Special
Operations Squadron as an Aircraft Commander. On November 4, 1979,
Iranians seized the U. S. Embassy in Tehran taking 66 Americans as
hostages. Major McIntosh volunteered for the extremely dangerous rescue
mission which ultimately ended in disaster. Sadly, on April 25, 1980, Major
McIntosh was among those who lost their lives in a ground aircraft collision.
FACTS AND ISSUES: In honor of Major Lyn McIntosh, the Mayor and
Council authorized construction of a memorial on March 5, 1981. The U.S.
Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, loaned an F-86 Aircraft to the City of
Valdosta for display which was placed at the corner of North Ashley Street
and Woodrow Wilson Drive along with a plaque
commemorating the life of Major Lyn McIntosh and his service to our
country.
In November, 2010, Col. Mark A. Ruse, Commander of the 23rd Mission
Support Group at Moody Air Force Base, first contacted the City of
Valdosta about the possibility restoring and moving the F-86 Aircraft to
Moody's new Heritage Airpark dedicated in honor of President George W.
Bush who was a former student pilot at Moody. Since the Aircraft was on
loan from the U. S. Air Force Museum, the City would have to declare the
Aircraft as excess and ask permission to relocate it to Moody Air Force
Base. On August 16, 2011, Larry Hanson, City Manager, sent a letter
to Patricia Ochs, Static Display Program Administrator with the
U. S. Air Force Museum, declaring the F-86 Aircraft as excess and
requesting that they allow it to be moved to Moody; however, since this was
a Memorial dedicated to the memory of Major Lyn McIntosh, his surviving
family would needed to be contacted to gain their support prior to any final
decision.
After many months, Col. Ruse was able to locate Major McIntosh's sons to
discuss restoration of the F-86 and moving it to Moody's Airpark for display.
After two personal Base tour and mission briefings with Scott and Stewart
McIntosh and their families and many phone calls, Mark McIntosh, who
works with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers in Tennessee, sent an Email
to Col. Ruse on January 17, 2012 giving their family's support to move
the F-86 Aircraft and Memorial to Moody's Airpark . Col. Ruse has subsequently
requested the relocation and restoration of the
F-86 Aircraft and Memorial from the site at Mathis Auditorium to Moody's
new Heritage Airpark.
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