Robert Lee Scott Jr.
Robert Lee Scott Jr. | |
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Army Commendation Medal | |
Other work | Author |
Robert Lee Scott Jr. (12 April 1908 – 27 February 2006) was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force and a flying ace of World War II, credited with shooting down 13 Japanese aircraft.
Scott is best known for his memoir,
Early years
Scott was born in Waynesboro, near
Military career
Upon graduation from the
World War II
After
Wanting to be on the frontline in flying combat, within a month, he was assigned as executive and operations officer of the Assam-Burma-China (Ferry) Command. This was the forerunner of the famous
Still anxious to get into combat and wishing to learn the
In July 1942, at the request of
Colonel Scott flew 388 combat missions in 925 hours from July 1942 to October 1943, shooting down 13 Japanese aircraft, and is noted as one of America's earliest flying aces of the war.
Scott was ordered back to the U.S. in October 1943 to become deputy for operations at the
He returned to China in 1944 to fly fighter aircraft equipped with experimental rockets directed against Japanese supply locomotives in eastern China. He was transferred to
Postwar
Scott returned to the U.S. for staff duty in Washington, D.C. and other stations until 1947, when he was given command of the Jet Fighter School at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona. In 1951, he was reassigned to West Germany as commander of the 36th Fighter-Bomber Wing at Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base.[12]
Scott graduated from the National War College in 1954 and was assigned as Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans at Headquarters U.S. Air Force, and then to the position of Director of Information under the Secretary of the Air Force. In October 1956, he was assigned to Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, as base commander.[13]
Retirement
Scott retired from the United States Air Force as a brigadier general on 30 September 1957, and remained in Arizona until the 1980s. He lived in Warner Robins, Georgia, until his death in 2006. In total, General Scott wrote about a dozen books including God Is My Co-Pilot and The Day I Owned the Sky.
Scott continued to be active well into his retirement. In 1980, he gained national attention by hiking the length of the Great Wall of China.[14] He had seen portions of the Wall during his 1944 flights near Peking. By 1980 he obtained Chinese government permission to make the 1,900-mile (3050 km) trek, which took 94 days.
In 1984, after passing a flight physical at Luke Air Force Base, Scott was taken up in a
Scott died on February 28, 2006, at Warner Robins, Georgia; he was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.[16]
Awards and honors
For his combat record in World War II, Scott received:
USAF Command Pilot badge
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Silver Star w/ 1 bronze oak leaf cluster | |||||||||||
Distinguished Flying Cross w/ 2 bronze oak leaf clusters |
Air Medal w/ 3 bronze oak leaf clusters |
Army Commendation Medal | |||||||||
American Defense Service Medal | American Campaign Medal | campaign star
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World War II Victory Medal | Army of Occupation Medal | National Defense Service Medal | |||||||||
Air Force Longevity Service Award w/ 1 silver oak leaf cluster |
Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) |
Army, Navy & Air Force Medal A1 (Republic of China) | |||||||||
Order of the Sacred Tripod 6th Grade (Republic of China) |
Order of the Cloud and Banner 4th Grade (Republic of China) |
China War Memorial Medal (Republic of China) |
During the
Books written by Scott
- God is my Co-Pilot. New York: Blue Ribbon Books, 1943. OCLC 2949268
- Damned to Glory. New York: Blue Ribbon Books, 1944.
- Runway to the Sun. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1945. OCLC 1372996
- Between the Elephant's Eyes. New York: Dodd Mead, 1954. OCLC 1353466Reissued Ballantine Books, 1954.
- Look of the Eagle. New York: Dodd Mead, 1955.
- Samburu the Elephant. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1957.
- Tiger in the Sky. New York: Ballantine Books, 1959. OCLC 11093976
- Boring a Hole in the Sky: Six Million Miles with a Fighter Pilot. New York: Random House, 1961. OCLC 1376425
- God is Still My Co-Pilot. Garden City, N.Y., Blue Ribbon Books, 1947. OCLC 29371504Periodically reissued by other publishers.
- Flying Tiger: Chennault of China. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1973. OCLC 411081
- "To Walk the Great Wall". Reader's Digest, April 1983
- The Day I Owned the Sky. New York: Bantam Books, 1989. ISBN 0-553-27507-0
Images
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Plaque of Scott at the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame
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Painting of Scott at the Museum of Aviation
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Brigadier General Scott after his B-1 flight in 1997
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Inscription and photo on the back cover of the God is My Co-Pilot and a photo of Bob Scott in his P-40 after his 11, 12, and 13 kills.
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Letter of appreciation to Lt. Col. Richard High Squadron Commander of the 310th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron, after a flight in an F-16C on 19 July 1984.
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Inscription on the inside cover of God is My Co-Pilot to Lt. Col. Richard High.
References
Notes
- ^ Townley 2006, pp. 20–30.
- ^ [1] Archived 2016-03-12 at the Wayback Machine "Distinguished Eagle Scouts." Scouting.org. Retrieved: 4 November 2010.
- ^ Scott 1943, pp. 1–2.
- ^ Scott 1943, pp. 6–7.
- ^ Scott 1943, pp. 38–39.
- ^ https://www.alexautographs.com/auction-lot/gen.-henry-h.-arnold-orders-col.-caleb.-v.-haynes_50C4400A55
- ^ Scott 1943, p. 83.
- ^ a b Belden, Jack. [2] "Chennault Fights to Hold the China Front." Life, 20 August 1942, p. 70. Retrieved: 19 November 2011.
- ^ Scott 1943, p. 154.
- ^ Loomis 1961, pp. 50–51.
- ^ Myth of the Phantom P-40 Warbird forum;Flying Tigers Forum. One modern retelling of the Legend is that the P-40 Pilot flies not to China, but to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1942! Skeptoid
- ^ Scott 1989, p. 131.
- ^ Scott 1989, p. 100.
- ^ [3] Interview with retired Brigadier-General Robert L. Scott history.net (1995)
- ^ Scott was required to pass the standard Air Force pilot physical before making the jet flights. (quoted in history.net interview)
- ^ Goldstein, Richard (28 February 2006). "Robert Scott, War-Hero Author, Dies at 97". The New York Times – via www.nytimes.com.
- ^ "Robert L. Scott Jr". Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2017-06-01. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
Bibliography
- Loomis, Robert D. Great American Fighter Pilots of World War II. New York: Random House, 1961. OCLC 1006133
- Scott, Robert Lee Jr. The Day I Owned the Sky. New York: Bantam Books, 1989. ISBN 0-553-27507-0
- Scott, Robert Lee Jr. God is my Co-Pilot. New York: Blue Ribbon Books, 1943. OCLC 2949268
- Townley, Alvin. Legacy of Honor: The Values and Influence of America's Eagle Scouts. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006. ISBN 0-312-36653-1
- Coram, Robert. Double Ace: The Life of Robert Lee Scott Jr., Pilot, Hero, and Teller of Tall Tales. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2016. ISBN 978-1-250-04018-3
External links
- [4] Ace Pilots Biography
- USAF Biography at the Wayback Machine (archived February 7, 2004)
- [5] Biography in The New Georgia Encyclopedia
- [6] CNN "WWII fighter ace Scott dies at 97"
- [7] Annals of the Flying Tigers
- [8] Interview with Retired Brig. General Robert L. Scott – American World War II Ace Pilot and Hero by Jamie H. Cockfield
- [9] Archived 2012-10-06 at the Wayback Machine Burma Is No Paradise, article by Col. Robert Scott, Popular Science, February 1944