Nothing to do with RC but learned this morning of the passing of my late father's older brother, Wilkins (Bill) Scott last night in San Diego.
Born in 1919, he was 2 months shy of hitting his 90th birthday. His daughter was with him and he was in his chair watching his favorite movie, "The Illusionist" when she noticed his breathing was labored. Like his younger brother (my dad), there was only one career path after high school in the 1940s - you went off to war.
Uncle Bill served 30 years USMC with combat experience in the South Pacific followed by support roles in Korea and later in Vietnam.
My grandfather, a 35 year Coast Guard veteran with service spanning WWI and WWII, decided family life wasn't for him and abandoned them as young boys. That left their mother the task of raising both of them during the darkest days of the Depression as a single mom. I know at one time they had to reside in a jail cell in the Jefferson County, WA Courthouse as no other living quarters could be had.
Dad quit high school and ran away to join the Canadian Signal Corps since he was too young to join the US Army. After training, his records caught up with him and they pulled him off a troop train in Halifax and sent him back home. He returned to finish high school (he lettered in football - and received a broken nose as a lifetime souvenir) then enlisted with the US Army's new 17th Airborne Division and was shipped over to England to prepare to go into France during the Ardennes Campaign (the Battle of the Bulge). Dad, however, broke his foot during a practice jump and wound up sitting out the action in a London hospital. His unit suffered very high casualties in France and Belgium. Dad really didn't have it much better as they had German V-1 Buzz Bombs and the V-2 rockets raining down on the city daily.
Both brothers had daughters born while serving in Korea - 5 days apart with my sister born on election day, 1952. The girls made the front page of the small town (Port Townsend, WA - of "Officer and a Gentleman" movie fame) newspaper.
My great grandfather (Benjamin Franklin Scott) served in the Union Army during the Civil War. He later founded the volunteer fire department on Virginia's Chincoteague Island. To raise funds for the department, he organized an effort to round up the wild ponies from neighboring Assateague Island, have them swim the channel and would auction them off to the mainlanders. This inspired several childrens books by Marguerite Henry with the most well known being "Misty of Chincoteague". Walt Disney later made a film about Misty.
Unlce Bill's son served in Vietnam as a USMC Platoon officer and I served post-Vietnam five years in the USAF, also as a Jr officer. We both made Captain then returned to civilian life. It appears none of the grand kids are destined to ever see military service - although with my son still in high school (he graduates 2010) the book isn't yet closed on him.
Bill attended a junior college while my dad had the distinction of being the first ever Scott to acquire a 4 year degree. He attended evening classes for many years between PCS and TDY assignments while my sister and I were young, then got a bootstrap assignment and completed a degree in history in residence at Syracuse University. He was there where the great Ernie Davis achieved fame on the gridiron. Dad was always proud he was a "self-made" person. I too, completed all of my schooling (2 associates, a BBA and MBA programs) while working full time and paying most of the costs myself.
Because of their respective 30 and 23 year military careers, as a kid growing up, we weren't always living near home or family. I really didn't get to know my uncle until Dad retired when I was a high school sophomore.
Another chapter is now closed on "Our Greatest Generation". My dad passed away May, 2001 of cancer.
Semper Fi, Uncle Bill...
Topic: OT: Major Wilkins M. Scott, USMC (ret.) (Read 742 times)