My Friend Scott Smith

I write tonight with a heavy heart.  My day started off with a message from my buddy Matt informing me that another friend, Scott Smith, was killed in action yesterday in Khowst Province, Afghanistan.

Scott was a Marine.  He honorably served an enlistment as a Marine combat engineer.  A few years back Scott was interested in coming back into the Marine Corps, this time as a reservist.  He even came out to get a tour from me on a drill weekend.  For whatever reason, Scott chose not to enlist into the Marine Corps Reserve at that time.  Instead he decided to join the Indiana National Guard.  This guy was the most patriotic individual I’ve ever met.  All he wanted to do was serve his country in a time of war.  He volunteered for deployment after deployment, finally landing a spot on one to Afghanistan.

It hurts me now to remember back how much Scott admired me for the previous deployments I’ve made.  I admired him 10 times moreover.  He had already served his time.  He was a little older, not in as good of shape, and had three daughters that he was responsible for.  He made that decision to come back into the military for the sole purpose of deploying to Iraq or Afghanistan and doing his part.

I could go on about Scott for a while.  He was a good man.  I was looking forward to swapping stories with him once we both returned back to work at Raytheon.  My heart breaks for his daughters, especially on the eve of Father’s Day.  I remember the last thing I told Scott on his last day of work before his deployment.  I told him the usual about taking care of each other, be smart, don’t be a hero, etc.  I told him I’m not good with goodbyes.  I told him that instead of goodbyes, it was “I’ll see you later.”  As if I needed another reason to hate this country, I think I just found it.