Charles Francis Scott
Captain
355TH TAC FTR SQDN, 354TH TAC FTR WING, 7TH AF
United States Air Force
Clearfield, Pennsylvania
August 11, 1945 to November 27, 1973
CHARLES F SCOTT is on the Wall at Panel W1, Line 120

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Charles F Scott
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23 Jan 2006

First let me say that I didn't know my cousin; I was too young to remember him. I do remember his father, who was the editor of our local newspaper and my mother's cousin, and the events surrounding his burial.

When he was killed overseas, his father was told that they would not authorize his burial in Arlington. One night our phone rang fairly late. It was his father telling my mother that his son had been killed in Vietnam and that they would not allow him to be buried in Arlington. Because my mother's sister was married to a man who was fairly high up in the VA, his father desperately turned to my parents for help.

I remember a flurry of phone calls being made in a very short time and eventually, the authorization was given. Although my parents went to the funeral, my sisters and I stayed at home. I was thirteen years old. To this day, I remember the grief on his father's face and the extra pain and suffering he went through just to bury his son. I also recall that his father was emotionally crushed believing that the government did not value his son because of the way they were treating the burial arrangements. My father, who was a WWII vet, was furious that the family had to fight to bury him in Arlington when so many were being lauded in the papers for running to Canada and protesting in the streets.

If they were alive today, both his father and mine would be very pleased to see this memorial. Thanks to all for their kind words.

From his cousin.
E-mail address is not available.


 

Notes from The Virtual Wall

The 354th Tactical Fighter Wing, flying A-7D aircraft, deployed from Myrtle Beach AFB to Korat RTAFB on 10 Oct 1972. The 354th TFW had three squadrons of A-7s assigned at the time of Captain Scott's loss:
  • 74th TFS (deployed from England AFB 02 Jul-28 Dec 73)
  • 355th TFS (deployed from Myrtle Beach AFB 15 Oct 73-26 Apr 74)
  • 356th TFS (deployed from Myrtle Beach AFB 10 Oct 72-04 May 74)
The obituary from Scott's hometown newspaper, the Clearfield, Pennsylvania, PROGRESS states that "his A-7D jet fighter bomber went out of control during a training mission near Korat Air Base" and identifies his squadron as the 355th Tactical Fighter Squadron.

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