Alden Scott Obituary

Col. Alden Anderson Scott, Ret. USAF CHARLESTON - Colonel Alden Anderson "Sam" Scott, of Charleston, SC, left this world on July 3, 2020 under the valiant care of the Roper St. Francis COVID-19 medical unit. He was 94. Born in Marlinton, WV in 1926 to Thurman D. and Gay Anderson Scott, he grew up on a small farm in Salem, VA. His father was in charge of maintaining the Salem Post Office, and the family attended the First United Methodist Church of Salem. During the manpower shortage created by the onset of World War II, Scott cleaned the Post Office with his father, delivered mail, worked concessions at Salem Municipal Stadium, and picked up odd jobs, including watering the elephants when the circus came to town. He joined the Virginia Protective Force (predecessor to the Virginia State Guard) in July 1942. In November 1943, at the age of 17, he enlisted in the US Army Air Corps, shipping out to the Asiatic-Pacific Theatre. He was discharged in August 1946 with the rank of Sergeant. At Salem's Andrew Lewis High School, Scott enrolled in intensive remedial college preparatory courses for returned members of the armed forces, graduating in 1947. There he was elected President of his alma mater's Veterans' Club and was accepted to the Virginia Military Institute. While at VMI, Scott was a Corporal and First Sergeant of "Fox" Company and Cadet Captain, Commander of Second Battalion. Highlights of those years included the Corps' salute to President Truman while marching in the 1949 Inaugural Parade. On May 15, 1951, Scott was assigned to the detail of General George Marshall, US Secretary of Defense, and VMI Class of 1901, on the occasion of the dedication of the George Catlett Marshall Arch built in tribute to his fifty years of service to our nation. Designated a distinguished military graduate and commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the USAF, Scott rotated through flight training programs at Perrin AFB, TX, Pinecastle AFB, FL, Moody AFB, GA, and Tyndall AFB, FL. Flying fighters out of Langley AFB, Scott was known to deviate from his course to buzz Main Street in Salem, VA. His T-28A made several unscheduled loud and showy appearances on the VMI Parade Grounds to entertain the Corps. Among his many assignments were: Korea in 1954-1955 (Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron); early Space and Missile programs; a year in Alaska on the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line and civil engineering for down-range missile stations. In 1958, he was selected to attend the Georgia Institute of Technology, graduating with a master's degree in Civil Engineering. The Air Force sent Scott to the Air Force Institute of Technology four times for courses in Advanced Civil Engineering and Executive Management. During his career, Col. Scott became a Command Pilot, accumulating over 7,500 hours in the air. He flew both fighters and transports, with the B-25 Mitchell Bomber standing as his all-time favorite to fly. From 1966 to 1974, Scott was assigned to the Military Airlift Command (MAC), twice at Dover AFB, DE, and once at Scott AFB, Belleville, IL. His duties as a C-141 Starlifter and C-5A Galaxy Instructor Pilot included supporting the worldwide airlift of men and materials for all the armed forces and embassies throughout the Cold and Vietnam Wars. The C-141 and the C-5A crews worked aeromedical missions and disaster relief supply missions around the globe. Col. Scott flew 63 combat missions in Vietnam. He received a commendation medal for his role in successfully planning over 300 "Operation Reforger/Crested Cap" NATO defense rapid readiness deployment missions while assigned to the 20th Military Airlift Squadron, 436th Airlift Wing. By 1973, the 436th was an exclusively C-5 Galaxy wing, instrumental during Operation Nickel Grass, the strategic airlift operation which delivered critical weapons and supplies to Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Additional duties included Chief, Combat Plans; Chief, Airlift Operations and Executive Officer at the Wing level; Commander, C-5A Squadron; and Chief, Operations Branch, Inspector General, of the Military Airlift Command. After 30 years of service, Col. Scott retired in 1974. He built a house on a mountaintop in Randolph County, WV, near his ancestors' homesteads. He sought out his relations, made countless friends, immersed himself in local history and geography, and took up gardening, birding, and woodworking. In 1979, Col. Scott relocated to Jekyll and St. Simons Islands, GA. There he acquired more friends, planted new gardens, dove into the geography and history of the Golden Isles, and began to travel the world as a civilian. He accepted engineering assignments on Sverdrup Corp. projects in Jacksonville, FL and at the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in St. Marys, GA. Colonel Scott remained intensely loyal to the Virginia Military Institute, attending milestone reunions in Lexington, and creating mini-reunions in Georgia and South Carolina. He will be remembered by those who mourn his passing for his courage, his vast curiosity, his love of learning, and for the scope of his storytelling. He loved to teach. He possessed the talent of making friends and keeping them close over his lifetime. He was a dynamic, loving and affectionate father, grandfather and great-grandfather. His family wishes to thank those who steadfastly supported him into his 90s, with special mention of Alex and Connor Rosenbaum, Florine Brisbon, Dede Blocker, and his beloved neighbors, the Cowans and the Macks. Colonel Scott is survived by his wife, Jessie D. Atkinson of Charleston, SC; his daughters, Cynthia Scott Ries (Kenneth) of Roanoke, VA, and Katherine Scott Archer (Dean) of Hollywood, SC; his four grandsons: James Scott Dalton, Nathaniel Scott Ries, Michael Russ Dalton (Bilge), and Benjamin Alden Ries; his three great-grandchildren: Carter Dalton, Kayden Dalton, and Emre Dalton; his three nephews: David Michael Nelson (Karen), John V. Bickford Jr. (Meg), and Cameron Scott Bickford (Pamela); his stepdaughter, Drew Atkinson Putt (Caperton) and their three children, Caperton Jr., Harry, and Wallace Putt; his late step-son's two daughters, Jessica A. Wooten (Justin) and Victoria Atkinson (Garrett); as well as their children, Lucy Pearl and Clark Wooten and Lydia and Keanu Bobst. Scott was predeceased by his sisters, Edith Scott Nelson and Loretta Scott Bickford; his nephews, Richard G. Garst and Bernard Nelson, Jr.; and his stepson, Harry E. Atkinson, Jr. Burial is planned in Arlington National Cemetery. For remembrances, the family asks for your consideration of The VMI Foundation, Merit and Need-Based Scholarship Fund, Box 932, Lexington, VA 24450. It was the VMI faculty who recognized Scott's ability to serve his country, and it was VMI that gave him his wings. Visit our guestbook at www.legacy.com/obituaries/ charleston