Fallen Air Force Veteran Honored on Kalamazoo County Highway

*KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI* — The Michigan House of Representatives voted unanimously Tuesday to rename a stretch of US-131 between I-94 and Parkview Avenue as the Master Sergeant Gregory T. Kuhse Memorial Highway. Senate Bill 274 passed with a vote of 104 to zero and now heads to Governor Gretchen Whitmer for final signature.

The designation honors Master Sergeant Gregory T. Kuhse, a Kalamazoo native who died in 2015 while serving in Afghanistan.

Master Sergeant Gregory Kuhse embodied the very best of Michigan and America. He was a devoted husband and father, a mentor to countless Airmen, and a man whose kindness, joy, and service above self left a lasting impact on everyone who knew him.

House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, made the statement during Tuesday vote.

A Kalamazoo Boy Who Gave Everything

Kuhse was born February 12, 1977 in Kalamazoo and graduated from Comstock High School in 1995. After high school, he joined the United States Air Force and served for 19 years as an Information Resources Manager and Manpower Analyst.

He worked out of Scott Air Force Base as part of the 3rd Manpower Requirements Squadron.

Kuhse was married with four children at the time of his death. His casket was flown home to Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport following the crash, prompting a procession that brought out hundreds in Portage and Oshtemo Township as people lined the streets to pay their respects.

His funeral was held at Betzler Life Story Funeral Home on Stadium Drive in Oshtemo Township.

The Ultimate Sacrifice

On October 11, 2015, Master Sergeant Kuhse made the ultimate sacrifice during Operation Freedom's Sentinel in Afghanistan when a British Puma helicopter crashed while landing at the NATO Resolute Support Mission headquarters in Kabul.

He was one of five people killed in the crash. He was 38 years old at the time of his death.