John attended Monroe for a year or so prior to graduation as our family moved from Arleta to North Hills in 1965 and he then transferred from Polytechnic to Monroe at that time. He graduated from Monroe 6 months early, during the Summer School 1966, though his official class was Winter of 1967.
John died while serving in Vietnam, on February 26, 1971. He was a helicopter pilot (Warrant Officer) and flew medevac. Below is information taken from the Virtual Wall; and on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. his name appears Panel 04W Line 007.
John Martin Souther
Warrant Officer
498TH MED CO, 67TH MED GRP, USARV
Army of the United States
25 January 1949 - 26 February 1971
Los Angeles, CA
Panel 04W Line 007
In February 1971, US and South Vietnamese forces were heavily engaged in the Tchepone area of Laos in an effort to disrupt enemy use of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Air support for these forces flew from a number of base camps along the Lao/SVN border. On 20 Feb 71 DUSTOFF 30, a UH-1H (tail number 69-15273) of the 498th Medical Company, was on standby at Khe Sanh. The crew consisted of:
WO John V. Rauen, Seattle, WA, pilot
WO John M. Souther, Los Angeles, CA, copilot
SP4 Dennis E. Gilliland, Globe, AZ, crew chief
SP4 John J. Levulis, Blasdell, NY, medic
At about 2150 DUSTOFF 30 was alerted for an extended medevac mission. The aircraft commander elected to refuel his aircraft before departure and was cleared to fly from the 498th Med hardstand to the refueling point. The short flight and the refueling were accomplished without incident. Upon completion, Khe Sanh tower cleared DUSTOFF 30 for takeoff. DUSTOFF 30 lifted off heading north and climbed to about 60 to 80 feet before banking to a southeasterly heading. As it reached the approach end of Runway 09 it entered a heavy bank of ground fog. Witnesses stated that DUSTOFF 30 then made a hard descending left turn to clear the fog, but impacted the ground. The aircraft continued in motion for several hundred feet, breaking into two main pieces. Warrant Officer Rauen and SP4 Gilliland died in the crash. The other two men survived the crash itself but died of injuries received, SP4 Levulis on 21 Feb 71 and Warrant Officer Souther on 26 Feb 71.
